


Lying Beside You Forever

by TheWiseOne12



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Families of Choice, Family Issues, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Multiple, POV Outsider, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:40:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 60,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22778845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWiseOne12/pseuds/TheWiseOne12
Summary: “I’ll start simpler, when did you go to sleep the night before last?”“Five.”“The night before that?”“Four thirty”“God, when was the last time you went to sleep before one?”“I don’t know, a month maybe,” he admitted.
Relationships: Quinn Hughes/Brady Tkachuk
Comments: 6
Kudos: 81





	Lying Beside You Forever

**Author's Note:**

> After almost a year this is almost finished. Between classes and other stuff It's taken me a while to finish it. Since I started writing this last March some of the seasons details are wrong. And then it gets further in the future. Throughout writing it I've come to like the Canucks far more than I ever thought I would and I don't regret that.

If ever asked about it, it would be very easy for Quinn to tell them what the worst day of his life had been. The day had started of promising, with the whole USA team nervously awaiting the start of their gold medal game at the World Juniors.

The game was tight. The first goal didn’t come until halfway through the game and it hurt that it was Finland’s. Six minutes into the third period they doubled their lead. Finally, a minute later they finally scored and then scored again to tie the game back up.

Just when Quinn thought that the game was going to go to overtime, he watched Kakko score. They didn’t manage to score in the last minute and a half. Quinn’s heart dropped as the final buzzer sounded and he had to watch the Finnish players celebrate together.

Most of the players were left sitting sadly on the bench for a few minutes. The medal ceremony was a bit of a blur. Quinn knew that he should feel proud as the silver was better than the bronze from last year, but it still hurt. He had to blink back tears a couple of times so that he didn’t start crying on TV.

The locker room was silent once everyone made it in there. Quinn slowly stripped out of his gear, still keeping his tears at bay. Josh hugged him tightly and they stood like that for a few minutes. Once everyone was changed families started coming in and Quinn wasn’t surprised when his parents headed straight for Jack, he was always their favourite.

No one felt like saying much and they headed out the hotel in silence. Quinn headed to his room and couldn’t help but notice the rest of his family slipping into Jack’s room without saying anything about it to him.

His roommate wasn’t back yet, so Quinn collapsed on his bed. For the first time since before the game he looked at his phone for the first time. There were a lot of messages telling him that he played well and then his heart dropped.

He had had been quietly dating his guy from one of his lectures for the last couple of months. He was hoping that the message would be supportive, but it wasn’t, instead it was just one sentence.

_We should break up_

Quinn couldn’t hold it back anymore. He dumped his phone on his bed, before heading into the small bathroom and locking the door behind him. He couldn’t hold his tears back anymore, so he sat down on the floor and started to sob.

Once he started, he couldn’t stop. Tears just kept flowing. He thought about going to talk to Josh, but he didn’t want to bother him. He then thought about going to get his phone and call someone, but he wasn’t sure who that would be. It used to be Brady, but they hadn’t talked in months and Brady hadn’t been responding to him, so he just continued to sit there.

He was unsure of how long until he was all out of tears and was just letting out hiccupy sobs. He was starting to tire since it was after a game but didn’t have the motivation to pull himself up off the floor. He was, however, ready for this day to be over because it totally sucked.

He slowly pulled himself up off the floor before staring at himself into the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot, and he felt like he was about to fall over with tiredness. He thought about going to have a shower, but he couldn’t be bothered.

His roommate still wasn’t back so he quickly changed into an old US hockey team shirt before crawling into bed ready for the day to be done. It then took him a long time to fall asleep, but he did at last.

When he woke next the room was still empty so his roommate must have crashed elsewhere. The next thing he noticed was his pounding headache, probably from crying last night. His phone had a couple more messages, including one from his Mom telling him when they were meeting for breakfast, but still nothing from Brady which upset him more than it should.

Quinn slowly pulled himself out of bed and into the shower. Since he had a while before he was needed anywhere so he took the opportunity to spend a while in a shower. He wasn’t sure why but all the events from last night hit him again, so he started crying.

Not having the energy to stand anymore so he sat down on the floor of the shower and started to cry again. How had his life gotten this pathetic?

By the time he got out of the shower he had another text from his Mom telling him that they would be down in the buffet in five minutes. This meant that he barely had time to quickly dress, grab his phone and key card and leave.

He was slightly surprised not to run into someone going too but based on the low number of people in the dining hall he guessed that most people were still in bed. It meant that it was very easy to find a seat with his family once he got his food.

“How are you?” Luke asked.

Quinn just shrugged and his younger brother smiled at him.

“You were really good last night though,” he added.

He had to blink back a couple of tears because it was still pretty raw and tuned into the conversation that Jack was having with our parents. They were discussing Jack’s plans for the rest of the season for hockey.

It was all stuff that Quinn had heard numerous times before, so he turned back to Luke instead and they started talking. Luke could clearly tell that he didn’t want to talk about hockey, so he changed to the subject to other things instead.

Josh joined them so the three of them started talking about the NBA instead, steering clear of any hockey talk. It also helped Quinn calm down a bit more but was ready to head back to Michigan and focus on something else.

That only worked until Mom turned to Quinn to asked him about his own plans.

“Well, it probably depends on how far we get and then if Vancouver wants me to come over and start playing this year,” he answered vaguely.

“Do you think that Vancouver will want you this year?” Mom asked.

He paused for a second unsure of exactly how to answer since the implications of her statement was that the team that drafted him wouldn’t want him, so he just shrugged.

Mom asked him a couple more questions about his plans that seemed innocent, but they had undertones of rudeness and it made Quinn feel even worse himself. He was glad when he could escape the dining hall. He left the city not long later to go back to Michigan and was ready for the nightmare that had been the last day to be over.

*******

After being away with the national team it was kind of weird to be back at Michigan again. It didn’t help that he had to see his ex in quite a few of his classes. They hadn’t talked since he had texted him telling him that they should break up. From seeing him it didn’t look like he was taking it as hard as Quinn, so he just ignored him.

To make things worse his insomnia came back. Part of it was probably just the stress of hockey and his classes but he was pretty sure that the day in Vancouver was part of it as well.

This meant that it wasn’t unusual for him to be awake in the early hours of the morning, just getting work done since it wasn’t like he was going to be able to sleep anyway. On this particular morning it was already three in the morning, so he decided to go study in the common room for a change of pace.

He currently had one of textbooks spread out beside him and was in the middle of writing a report when Josh stumbled in, clearly having just woken up. He wandered over to the sink to grab a drink of water and didn’t even notice him until he turned around.

“Holy shit, Quinn why the fuck are you still up?” he cursed, almost dropping his cup.

He looked up from his work to see his teammate sit down opposite him.

“Do you have an assignment due tomorrow, or I guess today?” he asked.

Quinn just shrugged as he didn’t really want to talk about it.

“Ok, then when was the last time you got a full amount of sleep? Honestly?” he asked.

“I don’t know. A couple of weeks,” he admitted.

Josh just started at him and Quinn shrugged again.

“I don’t have the energy to talk about this now, so we are both going to go bed and talk about it tomorrow,” Josh ordered.

Quinn knew better than to argue to he packed up his stuff and followed the forward towards his own room. Once in here he did go to bed as promised but it took him a long time to fall asleep like usual.

Josh didn’t get a chance to corner him until after practice and classes the next day, so it was early evening by the time Quinn made it back. He had just dumped his back in his room when Josh knocked on the door.

“Do you want to go out for food? I’ll even pay?” he offered.

“Well, since you generously offered to pay then sure,” Quinn smirked, but he was still pretty nervous about the upcoming conversation.

There was a relatively cheap diner-style place nearby that a lot of the team often frequented, so Quinn wasn’t surprised when Josh led him there. They barely talked until after their food was ordered and they were left alone.

“So, what’s going on?” Josh asked.

Quinn sighed slightly, not wanting to talk about it, and struggling to find the words to explain it anyway.

“I’ll start simpler, when did you go to sleep the night before last?” Josh asked.

“Five.”

“The night before that?”

“Four thirty”

“God, Quinn, when was the last time you went to sleep before one?”

“I don’t know, a month maybe,” he admitted.

“Shit, what’s going on?” Josh repeated.

“I have insomnia. I struggle to fall asleep, so I don’t bother until I’m really exhausted. It still takes a while to fall asleep but otherwise I just lie there for hours not able to sleep.”

“Do you know what’s causing it?”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to talk to you about it.”

“Have you talked to someone about it, like a therapist?”

“No, I can’t do that again,” Quinn protested.

“What happened?”

“I went to a therapist when I was younger but they reported everything I said to my parents so I couldn’t say anything.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, it’s something I might look into it once I’m in Vancouver and can do it without my parents knowing but not now.”

“You still have problems with them?” Josh asked, knowing about some of his problems with his parents.

“Yeah, I just struggle to be around them for long periods of time. It’s just the little rude comments that they make towards me so it’s hard to listen to,” Quinn admitted.

“Fuck, that sucks, anyway, is there anything that we can do about your insomnia?”

“Not much beyond trying to go to bed at a regular time but turns out I only need a couple hours so sleep, so I’ll be ok.”

“Ok, if you need anything just tell me.”

“Thanks, sometimes it just helps to fall asleep with someone else,” Quinn admitted.

“And if you ever need someone to cuddle come and find me,” Josh smiled, before changing the subject to hockey.

Quinn felt much better after talking to Josh and by the time they had eaten and when he left was feeling a lot more relaxed.

*******

The night after they were eliminated Quinn ended up in Josh’s bed with the forward up against his back and his arms wrapped around Quinn’s waist. Both of them still had tears on their cheeks and weren’t ready to go to sleep.

“What are you doing now?” Josh asked.

“Vancouver wants me, and they told me that when I’m fully healed, they’d like me to play a couple of games this season,” he said.

“So, you are done with Michigan then?”

“Yeah, I still want to complete my degree and I can do all my remaining course online. What about you?”

“I think I’m coming back. We should do something over summer then. Are you going home once you are done?”

“I don’t think I can. I think I’m just going to stay in Vancouver and work with their team. Then, I have a reason to not go home. I don’t think that I can spend months at home.”

“Fair enough.”

Quinn could feel himself falling asleep to he leant back into Josh’s arms and fell asleep in minutes for once. When he woke Josh was still asleep and Quinn didn’t want to wake him, so he grabbed his phone and mucked around on that until the forward was awake.

“How are you already awake?” Josh complained.

“Magic.”

The forward groaned into his neck before rolling over away from Quinn.

“I guess we should get up then,” Josh complained.

Quinn nodded since he was hungry and needed to get up to search for food. Not wanting to go to his own room he stole a pair of Josh’s sweatpants and old Michigan shirt that were both too big on him, but he didn’t really care.

When he made it downstairs, he was the only one up yet, so he had the kitchen to himself. Not wanting to cook anything, he made toast before sitting down at the bench to start to go through all the messages on his phone.

A lot of them were just congratulating him on the season and asking him if he was going to sign in Vancouver. Most of them could be ignored since he wasn’t really sure, but he responded to his family. He was still disappointed that there was no message from Brady, but he knew that he had to let that one goes otherwise he was just going to let himself down more.

There was a message from Jim Benning, the GM in Vancouver, asking for a call later in the day so Quinn suggested a time. They had talked a couple of times about his future and Benning really wanted him to sign and Quinn wanted to as well so he was hopeful that that meeting would go well. There was a final one from his agent who he would call before the call with Vancouver to get everything sorted out.

“How is everything in the world of Mr Popular?” Josh asked, appeared behind him.

“Shit, you scared me, just trying to sort everything out.”

“It’ll be weird without you here next year,” Josh then admitted.

“Why can’t you just come to Vancouver with me?”

“I could be your Trophy Wife. How does that sound?”

“Amazing”

Quinn’s phone started ringing and it was his Mom, so he sighed and picked up. It was a hard conversation and it was first of many that his day contained. After his family, it was then his agent and Benning.

By early afternoon he knew exactly what his plan was. He was going to pack up his room, go home for a couple of days before flying up to Vancouver. It was strange to be packing up all the stuff in his room.

A lot of his stuff was pretty organised, so it was mostly packing it into a box and throwing out old notes. Most of the team came through his room to say goodbye and would try to help him pack up but would mostly hinder him by sitting on his bed distracting him.

It was weird to not be coming back once he left and it was kind of nerve-wrecking. It didn’t take long for everything to bed packed and all his boxes were stacked in the corner, ready for him to leave.

Josh was the last one for to him to say goodbye because it was the hardest one. They stood in the doorway to his now empty room and they stood there in each other’s arms for a few minutes, not willing to say anything.

“Just call me whenever,” Josh told him.

“And you too.”

Quinn couldn’t bear to say something else, so they just said a causal goodbye before Quinn headed out. He had to blink back a couple of tears, but he was ready to go to Vancouver and start his pro career.

*******

Quinn was glad to be on the flight to Vancouver. Even the couple of days at home was stressful and Quinn felt like he was seconds away from a mental break down the whole time, so he was ready to escape.

He headed straight to the rink with all his stuff still with him. As soon as he got to the rink he was greeted by Brock Boeser.

“Hey, man, welcome,” he smiled.

“Hey.”

“I’m going to show you around the rink. A lot of the guys are here already so you can then meet,” he said.

Quinn nodded and Brock quickly got him talking as they walked around the arena. He met Benning and Coach before the equipment manager to sort out his gear. The medical team wanted to talk to him about his injury but let him go to go meet the team before practice then come back.

The locker room was loud, and they quickly silenced when they noticed Quinn.

“Guys, this is Quinn,” he announced to the room.

It was then a rush of people introducing themselves to him and he barely caught everyone’s names as they rushed to change and make it out onto the ice before they got yelled at for being late.

Once everyone was out, he then headed back into the trainer’s office. He sat up on the bench and pulled his shoe off and the trainer started to look at it.

“It’s not too bad but I’d say two or three weeks before you can play,” he started.

He was then told to keep off it for a bit which was the same thing he had been told by the trainer in Michigan, so he was expecting it. Since he had no ride anywhere, he headed out onto the ice and settled on the bench.

It took a few minutes for anyone to notice him since they were focused on drills but then Bo came over to get a drink and smiled at him.

“How do we look?” he asked.

“Pretty good. You should’ve had a goal there though,” Quinn teased.

“Fuck you too,” Bo said faking annoyance and pretending to spray Quinn with water.

Watching the rest of the team practice made Quinn want to get out onto the ice even more than before but the guys all came over to talk to him often, so time passed fairly quickly, and he joined them in the locker room after practice.

“You coming for lunch with us?” Brock asked him.

“Only if you can drive me.”

Brock nodded and bounced off to convince someone else to come with them. While he waited, he started talking to Elias Pettersson. They were discussing how Elias had found Vancouver when everyone was ready to leave.

It was mostly the younger guys on the team that were coming out for lunch, so Quinn got a lift with Brock again since his bags were still in his boot.

“Where are we going?” Quinn asked him.

“A sandwich shop nearby that does really nice sandwiches so the team goes a lot.”

A lot of them were already there so Quinn ordered before settling in a seat between Ben Hutton and Brock. Since he was the new person at the table the conversation turned to Quinn. 

“So, Quinn, most important question, what’s your nickname?” Bo asked.

“Quinn, mostly. It’s a nickname already,” he explained.

“What’s your full name?” Brock asked.

“Quintin.”

“Surely, we can come up with something more exciting,” Elias smirked.

The table then started asking him more questions about himself and he felt himself relax around his new teammates and started to remember everyone’s nicknames. Once they were all finished eating the conversation split up and Quinn ended up talking mostly to Bo.

“You got anyone coming to live with you?” he asked.

“Nah, it’s just going to be me,” Quinn explained.

“So, you just going to be looking an apartment then?”

“Yeah, but I think it might be a problem for the off-season since I can’t be bothered dealing with it yet.”

“I think that Boes and Troy have a spare room that you would stay in if you wanted to move out of the hotel sooner than that.”

“Thanks”

“And you should come around for dinner in the next couple of days.”

Quinn nodded before getting dragged into a conversation about the “college experience”, which was mostly Brock bragging about how many parties he went to.

“How did you find it?” someone asked Quinn.

“Well, I don’t really drink or party so mine was pretty calm,” he admitted.

“Quinn, how could you?” Brock teased.

“So, you are a much more sensible than Boes and Virts already,” Bo chirped.

The more that the group talked, the more Quinn got to know the personalities of the other players. Boes and Virts were very loud whereas someone like Petey was quieter with sharp chirps instead. People had to start heading out and when Boes was ready to go Quinn headed out as well.

“How was your first day?” he asked.

“It was good. Thanks for the ride,” Quinn said, once they were pulled up in front of the hotel.

“You’re welcome.”

He pulled his bags out of the back before heading into the lobby. Checking in was really easy and as soon as he got into his room he collapsed on the bed, exhausted from the day ready to fall asleep.

*******

Quinn got the ok to play his first game against the Kings, and probably the rest of the season which would come to five games. He wasn’t particularly surprised when he really struggled to sleep both the night before and his nap.

After a while he just gave up and headed out. He had got a relatively cheap car so that he could get around by himself and was slowly getting to know the streets of Vancouver. Unsurprisingly, he was one of the first to the rink and started his pre-game meal.

Other players slowly joined him, but he barely talked to them, thinking about other things instead. He made an effort not to look at his phone, turning it off and getting changed and ready for the game.

The traditional rookie warm up lap was extremely strange and surreal. He couldn’t help but notice that there were a few signs with his name on it and he smiled at a few of the owners. 

The game was honestly a bit of a blur. He didn’t think that he could explain anything about the game but had a bright smile on his face after the win. The locker room was loud, and everyone was talking. Hutts was in the stall next to him and was still talking about the game.

Coach had a couple of things and then he had to deal with media before he could relax. His phone was blowing up and he started to flick through them. There were congratulations from family and friends from Michigan and the US program.

Once he got through all of them, he noticed that once again there still hadn’t been anything from Brady, nothing before the game and nothing now. Clearly Brady had decided that Quinn wasn’t a friendship worth putting effort into, so he was just going to have to deal with that.

He didn’t get long to dwell on it because Edler had decided that they were all going to go out and there was no way that he was going to let Quinn not come especially since he was old enough to drink here.

They ended up at some local bar. Since he was the rookie it was immediately decided that he should go and get the first round. It took him ages to get the attention of the bartender so by the time that he made it back to the booths quite a few of the guys had already disappeared to dance so he just placed the drinks on the table.

He then slid into the booth and ended up sitting next to Petey and Bo. He didn’t want to drink so he had grabbed a coke instead and slowly started to drink it.

“So, there is a girl over there looking at you if you are interested?” Bo suggested to him.

Quinn just shook his head. Luckily, he wasn’t asked to explain why, and he was able to continue to drink. He really didn’t want to be there, but it was too early to duck out, so he had to suck it up.

“How did you find the game?” Hutts asked.

“It was kind of scary but really cool.”

They kept talking about the game as their teammates mostly moved out onto the dance floor. Hutts got dragged out of the booth by Virts and then tried to convince Quinn to join him.

“Come on, Quinn, it’ll be fun,” Hutts begged.

He shook head, instead drinking the last of his coke.

“I’m think I’m going to head out.”

Hutts tried to convince him otherwise but Quinn wasn’t having it, pushing past him and out of the building. It wasn’t far from his hotel, so he just walked back before collapsing on his bed.

It didn’t wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t fall asleep. Part of it was just still being keyed up from the game but he knew that most of it was just his insomnia. He just lay there, mind focusing on anything except sleep.

One of the things that his mind decided to think about was Brady. He so wanted to go back to a time that they were still really good friends and he would feel like he could call Brady and talk to him about anything but that couldn’t happen anymore.

He just wanted to know what had gone wrong but at this point he didn’t think that he ever would.

*******

By the time their season finished Quinn had really bonded with the rest of the team and was sad to be leaving them. He was grateful to Team USA for offering him a roster spot again but less please when Jack got one as well because it meant that their family decided to come over for a while.

The team started off well. He was glad that he wasn’t sharing a room with Jack, so he had some time away from his family. His roommate instead was Noah Hanafin. With a day off after the game against Great Britain, his parents decided that they should go and explore the city.

Noah was still asleep, so he quietly moved the room before heading downstairs to meet his family. Everyone else was already there so Mom didn’t seem pleased that he was “late”.

Quinn knew that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant day, but he just had to suck it up. Most of the morning was spent trailing after his parents and listening to them praise Jack. Luke didn’t seem particularly happy about this either, so they walked a couple of steps back and talked about their own things instead.

They ended up at some restaurant and finally the conversation moved away from Jack.

“So, when are you coming home?” Mom asked Quinn.

“Um, I’m not sure. I need to get somewhere permanent to stay for next season and the medical team wants to work with me a bit to make sure my ankle is perfectly fine,” he explained.

He had already thought about it and he was definitely going to try and avoid spending long at home. He was honest about having things to sort out in Vancouver and the medical team did want to work with him so he was going to try and stay away as long as he could. Virts lives in the area and had informed Quinn that they should train together while he was still in the city.

“But you’ll definitely be at my draft right?” Jack asked.

“Of course, you were at mine, so I’ve got to repay the favour, it’s in Vancouver anyway.”

Mom then started telling him about a family gathering or something that he had to be home for that sounded like hell but to placate Mom it was just easier to agree that he would be there. The conversation then changed back to Jack and his plans before the draft.

Since Quinn didn’t care to listen to that anymore he instead turned to Luke instead.

“How are you going?” he asked his younger brother.

“Good, looking forward to the program next year.”

“Of course, it’s an awesome experience.”

“Do you still talk to the guys?” Luke asked.

“Of course, I send messages to them often and of course I talk to Josh a lot.”

“What about Brady? You guys were really close.”

“Not in a while. Just been too busy I guess,” Quinn said, not really wanting to talk about Brady.

Luke shrugged, and they moved back to talking about hockey while the other three continued their own discussion about Jack. The food was good, and the afternoon was filled with more wandering the city, but he had to suffer through more discussion about Jack.

By the time they were nearing the end of the day Quinn’s patience was very quickly wearing thin and he was so fucking sick of listening to their conversation. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at one comment and unfortunately Mom caught it.

“Come on, you’ve got to be happy for your brother,” Mom snapped at him.

“I’m just a bit sick of listening you go on and on about Jack,” Quinn admitted.

“You should be proud that your brother is going to be draft higher than you.”

Quinn just stared at her and the fact that she openly said something like that.

“Fine, then I’m heading back to the hotel and I don’t want any company.”

No one said anything and luckily no one turned to follow him. He was glad that he had pocketed a cheap pair of headphones before leaving early so he started blasting music to block out his own, extremely negative thoughts.

He was glad that it wasn’t a long walk and by the time he made it to the hotel he headed straight to dinner and there were already a few people there. Not wanting to talk to anyone he grabbed his food and sat down at an empty table.

A couple of people thought about sitting with him, but he glared at them and they disappeared to sit elsewhere. Ryan Suter was not swayed, so that was how he ended up with the older defenceman sitting opposite him.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m great,” Quinn said sarcastically.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Nope”

“You know that you shouldn’t keep things bottle up.”

“Thanks for that wonderful advice, I’ll keep that in mind,” Quinn snapped.

“I was just trying to help.”

“And I’ve had a really shitty day and the last thing I want to do is talk to anyone.”

Ryan nodded and they continued to eat in silence. Just as he was finishing up, Quinn noticed Jack come in which gave him an extra reason to get up and leave.

Noah wasn’t in the room when Quinn got back so he pulled his laptop up and started to watch Netflix. The evening passed quickly enough but it wasn’t surprising to him that he wasn’t able to fall asleep.

Since he had a roommate that was going to want to go to bed before him, he just grabbed a jacket, his laptop and headed out of the room. He managed to find a small balcony that he probably shouldn’t be on and curled up there.

After the day that he had he just felt incredibly shit about himself. Most of the time he knew that he was a good hockey player but sometimes it was very hard to remember that. He didn’t even have anyone really to talk to since he used to call Brady but that wasn’t an option and he didn’t really know anyone here well enough yet to trust them to pour his soul out to.

********

He must have drifted off briefly at some point because he woke to the sun coming up and his laptop now dead. By the looks of it he had been asleep for only an hour, but they had practice soon and people would be coming down for breakfast soon.

He slipped quietly back into his room and Hanny was still asleep. Quinn quickly changed out of his clothes from yesterday before heading back downstairs for food. Unsurprisingly no one else from the team was there yet so he sat down a table and started to eat.

He was guessing with himself who would be the first one to join him, but he was extremely surprised when it was Alex DeBrincat. The winger grabbed his own breakfast before sitting with Quinn.

“Morning,” he chirped.

Quinn offered him a slight smile.

“You look like shit,” the winger then commented.

“Wow, thanks for the honesty.”

“Honestly, Quinn, are you ok?”

He didn’t want to talk about it and Alex nodded.

“If you do ever want to talk about it, then I’m here.”

Quinn nodded and was glad when the winger didn’t push it any further and started up a conversation about the NHL playoffs. More players slowly joined them. Quinn couldn’t help but notice Sutes looking at him and that Jack made an effort to sit as far away from him as possible. He just ignored both of them and went about his day.

It was nice to be back out on the ice, even if it was just for practice. Since they were now a few weeks into training together he was used to his defence partner, Adam Fox, and he was really nice to work with.

Since the rink wasn’t far from the hotel, Quinn was fine staying late to work by himself. Everyone else loudly trouped off the ice and he skated once slowly around the rink before stopping in front of the net and started working on his shot.

Quinn had always enjoyed being at the rink by himself. With two younger brothers it wasn’t often. It gave him time to work though some of his own thoughts. He was pissed with his family, not just his Mom. The comments she was making had become less subtle recently and no one would say anything. At first it wasn’t much but they had been getting to him over time and some of it contributes to his insomnia.

He knew that spending a long period out on the ice was a bad idea so after a while he moved off the ice. Luckily the locker room was now empty so he could take his time without worrying about anything else. Since they had had a video review before practice, they had a free afternoon so once he got back to the hotel there wasn’t anything that he had to do.

Hanny wasn’t in their room, probably down with Eichs and some of the others, so he had the room to himself. Not wanting to have to socialise with anyone so he pulled his laptop out and started watching again. He was the type of person that got sick of social interactions and especially with the mood he would go out of his way to avoid people.

He felt restless all afternoon but nothing to do with it. He didn’t know the area well enough to go out for a walk. He meant that once again he was struggling to fall asleep. Once again, he slipped out of the room before Hanny could come back and question him about it.

Except this time when he wandered the hallways, he ran into Brinksy and in that moment he decided that maybe he should talk to someone.

“Come in, Johnny’s my roommate and he’s probably going to crash in Eichs’ room again,” Brinsky suggest.

Quinn nodded and followed him in with his blanket and laptop. They settled on opposite beds.

“Do you want to talk or do you want me to talk about something else first,” Alex asked.

“I can explain if you give me a second,” Quinn suggested.

Alex nodded and Quinn took a deep breath for a second before deciding where he wanted to start his story.

“Being the oldest sibling, I often had one or both of them trailing after me to the rink. I was often responsible for them at the rink so that Mom could run off and do other things. I never knew why but very quickly Jack become Mom’s favourite. I was a quiet kid, not in love spending time with others, but Jack was more outgoing, and she loved that.”

“I don’t really know when it started but she started making slightly pointed comments about me. Sometimes it was my lack of friends but mostly it was my hockey and then it became about how Jack was better than I would ever be.”

“I was so glad when I was part of teams that meant be billeted out and not at home as much but every time, I came home her comments got worse and no one else would say anything. Luke would try to be nice, but he didn’t really understand it when he was younger.”

“And then we went out yesterday and it was the worst things that she had ever said, and I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

“Do you have someone to talk to?” Alex asked.

“Kind of. Josh sometimes but Brady was who I really used to confide in, but we haven’t talked in a while now.”

“Well, then you can talk to me whenever you want, even after this,” Alex told him.

“Thanks”

“You could sleep here if you want,” Alex offered.

“I don’t want to annoy you. I’m not going to go to bed for a while,” Quinn admitted

“Insomnia?”

“Yeah, it gets bad at times and Mom’s comments make it even worse.”

“Yeah, my roommate in Chicago suffers from it as well. His doesn’t sound as bad as yours and it comes and goes. Try and get some sleep then if you can.”

Quinn nodded, thanked him and headed out of the room. After talking to the winger, he felt a bit better and calmer but not enough to fall asleep. He ended up back in the same place as the night before, but he did manage to fall asleep a bit earlier than the night before.

*******

Because nothing about Quinn’s life was going right at the moment the team lost to Russia. It was hard to leave the ice knowing that it was going to be last game until pre-season. The locker room was completely silent, no one knowing what to say.

The media had come and gone and still no one really said anything. Families came in and that started people talking and hugging their families. Of course, his family headed straight for Jack, so Quinn decided that he didn’t want to hang around anymore. He had already showered and changed so he could. Alex grabbed his attention, but Quinn just shook his head.

He didn’t want to hear what his parents had to say to support Jack, so he headed back to the same balcony. He pulled the blanket around his shoulders, put headphones in and just stared out into the night.

After a while he could hear people started to come back. A lot of them were still with family or partners but Quinn still didn’t move. He heard Jack come back, talking to Luke Kunin. The hallway seemed to quiet down but then the door opened behind him.

Sutes slipped out and sat down as well. The balcony wasn’t that big but there was just enough room for the older man to sit down beside Quinn. He only had a USA jacket on, so he offered him some of his blanket that Sutes took.

“It’s nice out here,” he commented.

Quinn nodded but didn’t want to talk about anything.

“Are you alright out here?”

“Yeah, just wanted some peace”

“Are you sure that you don’t just want to go to bed?”

“That would be good if I would be able to sleep,” Quinn admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“I have insomnia and struggle to fall asleep. I’d rather just be out here by myself then lying in bed struggling to sleep.”

“Oh, ok, that makes sense.”

Sutes didn’t ask him anything else and Quinn wasn’t going to continue the conversation. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes as they stared out into the night.

“You’ll be ok out here then?” he asked.

“Yeah”

Sutes nodded before standing up and opening the door.

“Do try and get some sleep though,” he added before slipping inside.

Quinn nodded and he did fall asleep at some point because he woke to the sun. By the time he made it down to breakfast it was late enough that there were already a few other players. It was a mostly silent affair with people still processing the loss from the night before.

His room was empty when he made it back since Hanny was still eating and he took the opportunity to start packing in peace. He hadn’t made that much of a mess, but it still took time but after not long he was left with just his suitcase and backpack.

A lot of the team were staying in Europe for a while especially since family had come over, but Quinn was not one of them. He thought that the rest of his family might be staying but he didn’t bother to inquire. Instead he was flying out later in the day and heading to Vancouver.

“Oh, hey, Quinn, you look organised,” Hanny said, coming into the room.

“Hey, yeah, I’m flying out later and need to head out soon rather than later.”

“Really? I thought Jack said that you guys were staying a bit longer.”

“They might be but I’m not.”

“Ok.”

They didn’t talk much more as Hanny packed and Quinn mucked around on his phone. By the time Quinn had to leave Hanny was also done and offered a smile.

“It was nice to room with you,” the older defenceman smiled.

“You too.”

Quinn moved through a few rooms and said goodbye to the others. Sutes made sure to hug him tightly and Alex told him to call if he ever needed to. He grabbed his equipment bag from the team and joined Schneider and JVR in the lobby who were both heading out at the same time, so they travelled together.

The trip to Vancouver was a long one, taking almost a full day and by the time he made it back his body was confused about the time and he was exhausted, but he was glad to be back. He was glad that Boes and Troy let him continue to use their spare room even though they weren’t there, so he didn’t need to check back into a hotel.

The experience with team USA was always amazing and he wished that they could’ve won but it was awesome anyway. He was just annoyed that his family had to ruin it, but it was still cool. He just had to avoid going home for as long as possible.

*******

By the time the draft rolled around he was settled in Vancouver. He had found a two-bedroom apartment that was in between the practice rink and arena so it was close to both of them. He hadn’t completely finished furnishing the place, but he had the main parts.

It was nice to have a place of his own though. After mostly living with roommates it was kind of strange. He had been training at with the athletic team since he had been back. Since Virts was from the area they had trained together a few times as well.

He had just gotten back from training and was exhausted. He had found a trainer that he likes and pushed him hard, but he was exhausted and just about collapsed on the kitchen floor before making it to the shower.

His family had arrived in the city and he was glad that there wasn’t enough space for them to stay with him, so he didn’t have to spend quite as much time with them. With the draft tomorrow he was going to stay in the hotel with them tonight but that was unavoidable.

Jack had media stuff to do with the afternoon, so Quinn offered to take Luke out to do something which the youngest sibling jumped on. By the time he pulled up to the hotel he was already waiting so he could just jump in the car.

“Hey.”

“Hey, where do you want to do to,” Quinn asked.

“Somewhere with food. I haven’t had lunch,” Luke said.

Quinn nodded and they headed to one of the small cafes nearby that he really liked. He couldn’t help but notice that Luke wasn’t quite as talkative as usual, but Quinn wasn’t going to push it yet. They both ordered and Quinn got him talking about how his summer had been.

“Have you found a place here?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, I moved in a couple of weeks ago. Just sorting out all the stuff I need for the place,” Quinn told him.

“What’s it like? Living alone.”

“It’s kind of strange after always having someone else around but I do like it.”

“You always were the one that liked his own space more than most.”

“Yeah, it’s a definite nice change of pace from billets and roommates. Probably would like to have a roommate at some point. I don’t think I can live alone all the time.”

They talked about other things as they ate. Mostly baseball but some other sports as well. Quinn could see that Luke relaxed throughout their conversation. Not wanting to hang around after eating or have to go to the hotel, Quinn offered for Luke to visit.

Luke instantly jumped on the opportunity and it wasn’t that far either. Quinn pulled into his park and Luke trailed up after him. Once they got in Luke had a quick look around before they settled on the sofa.

“Are you alright?” Quinn asked him.

“Just seeing why you got so mad at Mom. Just with the draft everything’s about Jack and nothing else seems to matter to her,” he admitted.

“Are you alright, though?”

“Just a little annoyed, you know, and sick of it.”

Quinn nodded because he did understand. Luke clearly didn’t want to talk to about it, so Quinn wrapped an arm around his younger brother and flicked the TV on. They didn’t talk for a while, instead watching the baseball game that was on.

It was getting late and Mom would want them to all have dinner. Quinn grabbed his duffle bag and suit for tomorrow and they headed out.

“You can always come up to visit for some time,” Quinn suggested.

“Thanks”

He was pleased to see that Luke looked a little happier. Quinn parked and they headed up together. Luke already had the room key, so they didn’t have to check in. The three siblings were sharing a room with their parents next door. Jack wasn’t in the room, so Quinn hung his suit and collapsed on one of the beds.

They were only there for five minutes when Dad sent them a text that the three of them were downstairs.

“Ready for this?” Quinn asked.

Luke laughed before they headed down. Dad smiled at them when they got there but Mom and Jack were still talking about something that had happened and didn’t stop during our walk to the restaurant.

By the time they were seated Quinn was already sick of it. It was just the same inane shit that Quinn had to suffer through last year but suddenly since it was Jack it was interesting this year. Not caring about its Quinn just turned to Luke and they started talking about.

Dinner was a little awkward since Quinn still hadn’t addressed his last conversation with his parents and he didn’t want to. Unfortunately, that didn’t last because when they got back Mom pulled him into their room.

“I don’t want to argue with you, but you better not ruin tomorrow for Jack,” she told me.

Not wanting to argue either Quinn just nodded.

“And we expect you home soon,” she added.

“I can’t yet. I’ve still got things to sort out here,” Quinn lied.

Mom just rolled her eyes but agreed. Not wanting to hang around anymore he slipped out of the room. Jack and Luke were stretched out on their own beds and Quinn felt himself relax a bit as they talked. Jack was clearly quite nervous about tomorrow, so they calmed him down. It was nice to have the three of them in one place again and despite the problems he had with his parents he would still love his siblings.

*******

The next day seemed to drag on and he was pretty sure that it was even more painful for Jack. At last everyone was ready and headed down to the bus. The bus to the arena was silent as the upcoming draftees were pretty nervous.

The arena looked very different to when Quinn was last there for the Canucks last game of the season. They got settled in their seats and just had to wait. Quinn was sitting at the end of their seats with Luke beside him and they quietly talked before the draft started.

At last the process started and the Devils stepped up to the stage.

“The New Jersey Devils selected from the USA Development Program, Jack Hughes.”

Quinn hugged his brother and then watched him pull on the red jersey. Quinn knew that he would then have to sit through a lot of media, so he relaxed back. Mom had a bright smile on her face and Quinn just looked away.

By the time they were able to see him he looked exhausted.

“Congrats,” Quinn said and hugged him once more.

Jack smiled again but looked glad to get out. Quinn could go home but it was late, and he couldn’t be bothered driving so just crashed in the hotel again. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to fall asleep and just lay there for a while before giving up and grabbing his phone.

“Quinn, are you still awake?” Luke asked.

“Yeah”

At this Luke got up and moved so that they were sitting on Quinn’s bed together. Since they were sleeping on beds in the kitchen area and Jack was in the room and asleep, they didn’t have to worry about being too quiet.

“Can’t sleep?” Quinn asked.

“No, I guess you can’t either,” Luke half-smiled.

“No, but I’ve got insomnia, so this is fairly normal.”

“What? Since when?”

“I don’t know. A year or so now.”

Luke paused for a second to think about it, “And I’m guessing Mom doesn’t help.”

“Not at all.”

They continued to talk for a while until Quinn could tell that Luke was starting to fall asleep, so Quinn let him sleep in his bed and moved across to Luke’s. It still took him a while to sleep but at least managed some.

The next morning, they had breakfast together and Quinn was just looking forward to going home and having time away from his family.

“Have to have a bet as to who can score their first goal first,” Jack suggested.

“Sure”

They had finished eating and Quinn was starting to think about leaving when Mom turned to Quinn.

“So, do you know when you are going to be home yet?” she asked.

“I still don’t.”

“Well, we do want to see at some point.”

Quinn nodded but she wasn’t finished.

“I mean we have supported you to this point.”

She then continued on insulting him, but he just tuned out, it was all that he could do not start crying. After minute he was sick of this and decided to fuck this and stood up making her stop.

“Fuck this, the reason that I don’t want to home because every fucking time I spend time with you, you spend it either insulting or ignoring for me so I’m sick of it. I’m not going to go home because every time I spend time with you, I feel like shit, so fuck you,” Quinn snapped.

No one said anything so he just grabbed his bag and left. Once he got to his car, he had to sit in the driver’s seat to calm down. He really wanted someone to talk to about anything, but he didn’t know who to call. He couldn’t call Brady and Josh was visiting his grandparents for the weekend and didn’t have service, so he just sat there.

Eventually he had to talk to someone and decided that Virts would be the best choice since he could talk for hours and distract him.

“Hey, Quinn, how are you?” the winger asked.

“Not great and just want someone to talk for a while to distract me,” Quinn admitted as he switched the call to Bluetooth and started to drive.

“Well, then you called the right person because you needed to hear about this thing that happened to me the other day,” he started.

It didn’t take long for Quinn to be glad that he called Virts because he already had him laughing about the stupid shit he had been up it. He managed to get home without too much problems and collapsed on his couch.

“Are you still in the city?” Virts asked.

“Yeah”

“We should train together soon then.”

“Sure”

“Are you feeling better?” Virts asked softly after a second.

“Yeah, thanks, you really helped.”

“Anytime.”

*******

After snapping at his Mom, he did avoid going home at all over summer. It meant that he had a nice time in Vancouver, and he managed to meet a few people in the city as well which was nice. A few weeks after getting back into the city he headed to an appointment that he had been trying to sort for a while now. The office was small, and he didn’t have to wait long to be ushered into a room.

“Quinn Hughes,” the woman asked.

She wouldn’t have been much older than him and she had a nice smile.

“Yeah”

“Have a seat and we can start talking.”

Since he was paying now, he decided that it was time to go back to a therapist. He looked around for a while before settling on seeing Ava first.

“Since, I don’t know you today I just want to talk to you about everything and we can go from there,” she suggested.

“Ok”

They then started. She knew quite a bit about hockey so they started there, and he could feel himself relax.

“So, how come you are here?” Ava asked.

Quinn then explained everything that had happened with his parents, the last time he went to a therapist and his insomnia.

“Ok, and does it get better and worse?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure that its stress so like the idea of spending time with my family stresses me out and I don’t sleep much.”

“I guessed as much. I can give you some medication for it but it’s not as effective as trying to figure out what is stopping you from sleeping,” she told me.

Quinn nodded because he had tried sleeping medication once before and it just made him feel like shit and never took them after that.

“And knowing that you have a bit of a different work schedule, but it would still be good to meet every two weeks or so,” she suggested.

“Yeah, do you want me to send you my schedule so you can see what times work for you?” Quinn suggested.

She agreed and by the time that his time was up he felt extremely happy with his choice. He was hopeful that they would be able to calm his insomnia down because it was getting out of hard and really annoying.

She was also much better than his previous therapist, even without her telling his parents, so that helped as well. He’ll just have to see how it goes

*******

The first day of training camp is always exciting and he was looking forward to seeing everyone again. He only made it a couple of steps into the building before someone jumped on his back and he wasn’t surprised that it was Virts.

“Huggy Bear how are you?” he smirked.

“Good, how are you?”

Virts nodded and Quinn carried him though into the locker room. The two of them had met up quite a few times since they both spent most of their time in the city and it was really nice.

The locker room was already pretty noisy already and Virts jumped off his back to go and talk to Hutts. Quinn headed to his stall and settled down. He was really excited to get back onto the ice as well and was still smiling when he made it onto the ice.

It was a bit strange to have so many people on the ice and everyone is in different moods. Quinn is pretty confident with his place on the team and that was confirmed when Coach pulled him aside after they were finished on the ice.

“It looks like the work you did over summer was really beneficial,” he told him.

“Thanks”

“Definitely looking forward to seeing what you can do this season.”

Quinn smiled even more, thanked him again before slipping into the locker room.

“Quinn, we are going for lunch,” Hutts told him.

He quickly changed and joined them so that they could all catch up after the summer. They headed to a café that Quinn had already been to a number of times, so he knew exactly what he was going to order.

“How was your summer? Do anything exciting?” Bo asked him.

“Went to the draft again obviously but I spent my whole summer here getting stuff sorted,” Quinn explained.

“Didn’t you go home?” TRoy asked.

“No, I got into an argument with my Mom and refused to spend any time with her, so I just stayed here. My youngest brother visited for a couple of weeks but that was it.”

Luckily the guys around him realised that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so the conversation moved on. No one had really done anything extremely exciting, but it was a good chance to catch up.

After the meal people slowly started to disappear until it was only Petey, Boes and Troy left.

“Do you guys want to come around?” Boes asked.

They all agreed so they headed out together. It was kind of weird to be back at Boes and Troy’s place since he was no longer living here but it was relaxing and nice to just hang out. Quinn wasn’t the best when it came to video games, but he could hold his own and wasn’t losing the whole time.

“How was the summer in Vancouver?” Petey asked.

“It was really nice. It never got crazy hot and I saw a lot of Virts which is always crazy, but it was cool.”

“Get up to any shit with Virts?”

“Not too much. He mostly told me about the stupid shit that he did instead.”

“He’s always getting into strange situations.”

They then spend a good half an hour recalling stories that Virts had either told them or they had seen and since most of them were new to Quinn it just made him laugh and laugh.

Getting back onto the ice and the season starting again was awesome but it was just as nice to get to see all the guys all again and Quinn felt better than he had in a while just being surrounded by guys he really liked.

*******

Of course, it couldn’t stay like that. The regular season started and of course one of the first games of the regular season was against the Senators and Brady. He hadn’t played against him last year, so he was unsure what it was going to be like on the ice.

This uncertainty made Quinn pretty nervous before the game. Coach was giving them one last message before they headed out and honestly Quinn wasn’t listening to any of it. He was too deep in his own thoughts.

Nothing came of it in the first period as they were never on the ice at the same time but of course that came to a head in the second. Quinn was mostly standing still as the referees tried to figure out penalties after a scuffle that he wasn’t involved in when Brady skated over to him.

“What do you want?” Quinn snapped.

“Just wanted to say hi. We hadn’t talked in a while,” Brady said, slightly shocked.

“And that hadn’t bothered you before.”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t bothered to call or message at all in the last year, so I gave up trying to talk to you.”

Brady didn’t seem to have anything to say and Quinn just skated towards his own teammates to stop the conversation. His heart was racing, and it was nothing to do with the game they were playing. Thanks to Ava he recognised the signs of a panic attack and thought that he might have to come off the ice to calm down, but he managed to calm down his breathing before the puck was dropped again but was still feeling shit.

He managed to get through the rest of the game, but it wasn’t a great game personally, however, the Canucks won. Brady tried to talk to him twice more, but Quinn just skated away.

As soon as possible Quinn stripped out of his gear. He didn’t want to drive, so instead he slipped out of the locker room and found an empty room and shut himself in. It was a shame that Josh was down in the AHL, otherwise he would be here, and Quinn could talk to him but of course life wasn’t that simple.

With the door shut, he slumped down onto the floor with his back to the door. Just thinking about it made his heart race again. He pulled his knees to his chest and focused on calming his breathing. Until he and Ava had talked about it, he hadn’t realised that what he had experience a couple of times was a panic attack but now he knew he was able to calm it down.

He didn’t think that seeing Brady would make him feel so bad but clearly he was more hurt about it than he thought. Just the utter confusion on his face, not knowing what he had done hurt him more.

“Quinn?” someone yelled.

Clearly someone was looking for him so on shaking legs he stood up and opened the door to find Loui a couple of steps down the hallway.

“Where did you disappear to?” he asked.

“Just needed to take a breather for a second.”

“Ok, we are going out. Coming?” Loui asked.

“I think I’m just going to go home.”

Loui nodded and they headed back to the locker room. Quinn felt a bit calmer but still kind of panicked, so he just wanted to go home and crash. Most of the team had already left so Quinn had some quiet to finish getting organised and was just leaving the locker room when Virts caught him.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

Quinn shrugged and Virts offered a slight smile. He was clearly more observant than he usually was because he had to be paying attention to notice.

“If you want to talk about then you can come to me,” he said before disappearing off to his own car.

Quinn didn’t know what to say but was glad when he got home after thinking about it for his whole drive. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to sleep for a while but needed to do something to do. He put music on and moved into the kitchen.

He wasn’t a great cook but living alone all summer made him learn a lot. He also found a drop-in cooking class that taught him more, so he was more comfortable cooking. It was a good way to spend time and he could stick it in the freezer so that he could eat it after road trips.

He couldn’t help but notice how many times his phone was vibrating on the bench, but he just ignored him as it wasn’t going make him feel better. He still felt a bit shaky after the game but managed to relax.

Unfortunately, just as he were about to go to bed, he grabbed his phone and looked at all the messages. Some of them were from the team’s group chat but most of them were from Brady.

_Quinn, can we meet_

_I just want to talk_

_Quinn_

_Come on_

_What happened?_

_Quinn_

_Quinn_

_I miss you_

There was another ten that he didn’t want to read, and it was clear that Brady was getting drunker and drunker, but he couldn’t do it. Just reading them made him feel shit so he just blocked him and headed to bed.

*******

Thankfully he didn’t hear from Brady again. The season was going well for both Quinn and the team. By the time they started their seven-game circus trip to the east they were second in the division. The first game of course was against the Devils.

The idea of lining up against his brother was strange. They had played together a few times and the idea of him being on the other side was weird.

“You ready?” Hutts asked.

Quinn nodded and the other defenceman offered a bright smile.

“Well, then show them that you are the best Hughes.”

Quinn offered smile and Hutts laughed. He wasn’t going to lie; he was pretty determined to play his absolute best.

The game started off slowly and during a break he glanced up at the big screen to see his parents up on the screen. He wasn’t surprised that they were here, but he was surprised that he hadn’t heard anything.

Jack sidled up to him and offered a smile.

“Hey, blue looks good on you,” the younger Hughes said.

“Hey”

“I guess you saw Mom and Dad are here,” he continued.

“Yeah.”

“They would like it if you came to dinner with us.”

Quinn snorted because it was clear that Mom thought that he would be more likely to come if it was Jack asking instead of her.

“Is she going to apologise for what she has said?” Quinn asked.

Jack paused and Quinn just snorted again.

“Well then you can tell her that I won’t be coming home until she does,” Quinn told him.

“Come on Quinn, what happened to our great times together? Why are you making this so hard?”

“Because I got so sick and tired and listening to her tear me down and I decided that it wasn’t worth it anymore. I couldn’t keep listening to it,” Quinn snapped.

“Come on, it wasn’t too bad.”

“For you maybe but you were her favourite and she would never say this to you.”

“Quinn, you are making a big deal out of nothing.”

“Look Jack, I’m not spending time with you guys until Mom apologised and stops this shit. I don’t have to listen to you or her so until that happens fuck off.”

Jack looked like he was about to protest it more, but Quinn skated away. Just as he was about to reach the bench Virts caught his arm.

“Are you ok?” the winger asked.

“I will be.”

Virts offered a bright smile and soon after the puck was dropped so he had other things to think about.

He was pretty glad to head off the ice with a 5-0 Canucks win with one of the goals being his own. The locker room was loud and energetic. He wasn’t surprised that after he finished changing his phone had blown up with messages from his family.

He wasn’t going to read them because it would only make them worse but luckily Virts and Hutts chose that moment to come over to him.

“Cards in Virts’ room tonight,” Hutts started.

“And you have to come.”

Quinn nodded and was thankful that they gave him something to do. The games were fun, especially since Virts couldn’t buy a win, and by the time he went back to his own room he was feeling but better and not thinking about his family.

*******

Most of the team were heading away for the bye week but Quinn decided to once again stay in the city. He hadn’t heard anything from his family in a while now and they didn’t even ask if he was going home for the week and he was thankful for that.

His plans for the week were to do absolutely nothing. A bit of training obviously but nothing else. Virts was still around so the first day he decided that he was going to drag Quinn to the beach despite the fact it was the middle of winter. Knowing that the winger wasn’t going to take no for an answer he just agreed and waited for him to come pick her up.

“Morning,” Virts chirped cheerfully as Quinn made it to his car.

“Why are we going this?” Quinn asked.

“Because we’ve got to have fun.”

Quinn just laughed and they moved out of the parking lot. It wasn’t a very long drive to the beach and as soon as they reached it, Virts jumped out of the car and ran straight down the beach into the water.

“Fuck, this is fucking cold,” Quinn heard from his spot, just getting onto the sand himself.

“I could’ve told you that,” he yelled from his spot at the top of the beach.

The winger managed a couple more minutes in the water before coming back up to join Quinn.

“You didn’t join me,” Virts laughed.

“Nah, I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Instead Virts decided that they should build a sandcastle and Quinn happily agreed. No one else was there so they could settle wherever they wanted. The winger was very serious about his sandcastle, so much so he had even brought a bucket. Whereas Quinn was mostly just making a mound.

“How are you?” Virts asked him after a while.

“Pretty good at the moment,” Quinn said.

“Like the team?”

“Yeah, it’s really cool after the last season and having a bit of time with you guys it was really cool to be back and get to continue to play with you.”

“Yeah, awesome, you seem to be fitting in well.”

Quinn smiled brightly at him because Virts launched into a story about something he had seen recently. Quinn just let his voice wash him and was able to relax.

By the time they left Virts had created a sandcastle he was very proud of and had sent to their chat which had got mixed responses. Quinn was glad that the winger had dragged him out because he had had a great day and was nice and relaxed.

Of course, the next day he woke up feeling like absolute shit. As soon as he woke, he had to rush to the bathroom to throw up. Every time that he tried to move, he just felt worse again. After lying plastered on the floor for a while, he managed to make it to the kitchen to grab a drink of water, but he couldn’t keep it down either.

It was such a change from yesterday when he felt fine to now feeling so shitty. After a while of the feeling not good he decided to call the Canucks’ doctor Bill.

“Quinn how are you today?” he answered immediately which Quinn was glad for.

“I just came over really sick overnight and can’t keep anything down,” Quinn explained.

“Anything? Or just food?”

“Anything. Not even liquids.”

“OK, well the problem is that none of the medical team is in Vancouver at the moment, so we can’t come check you out.”

“That’s fine,” Quinn told him.

“So, give it a few hours and if you are still this bad or get worse then go to the hospital,” Bill told him.

“Ok, thanks.”

“And I’ll call you in a few hours.”

Quinn agreed and after hanging up. He continued to lie there for a while but by the time Bill called back four hours later he wasn’t feeling any better and still couldn’t hold anything down, so they decided to call an Uber and go to hospital.

Even moving downstairs to get into the car made him feel worse and luckily his driver was really nice and drove slightly slower for him. They were most of the way there when the driver pulled out after the light turned green and then a car slammed into them.

*******

Brady was relaxing at home with Matty a couple of days into his bye week when his phone rang. It was a number that he didn’t recognised. He thought about leaving it for a moment but then decided to answer and was thankful that he did.

“Hello?”

“Is this Brady Tkachuk?” a woman on the other end asked politely.

“Yes.” He was a little sceptical.

“Are you the emergency contact for Quintin Hughes?” she asked.

Brady agreed, heart jumping into his throat. He had completely forgotten that he had been made Quinn’s emergency contact a while ago when he didn’t want it to be his parents.

“He was involved in a car crash here in Vancouver and is in hospital.”

“How bad?”

“Quite.”

She then hung up and the only thought in Brady’s mind was how quickly he can get to Vancouver.

“What was that about?” Matty asked him.

“Quinn’s in hospital in Vancouver,” Brady stuttered.

“Ok, then, I’ll book flights for you, you pack a bag and tell the parents.”

In that moment he was so glad to have Matty there so in a couple of hours he was on his way up to Canada. The whole time he was extremely nervous, and he was glad when he got dropped in front of the hospital.

“I’m here for Quintin Hughes,” he told the women at the front desk.

“ID”

He handed her his licence and she smiled before giving him a room floor and number. After a few minutes of wandering he managed to find the room. After knocking on the door and getting no response he pushed the door open to find Quinn asleep.

Brady settled into the seat beside the bed and looked at the defenceman. From the chest up he had no obvious injuries, but he did have an IV in and deep bags under his eyes. Not wanting to wake him so he just grabbed his phone and tried to distract himself as much as possible.

He was interrupted by a nurse coming in and smiling at him.

“Oh, good, someone here for this nice boy,” she smiled.

“Yeah, what happened to him?”

“He was actually on the way to the hospital with a bad flu of some kind so is really dehydrated when the Uber he was in got into a crash. At the moment he’s mostly got bruising but they want to monitor him and he’s pretty sick,” she explained.

Brady nodded and let her to her job before leaving him alone again. He had probably only been there for another half an hour when he heard Quinn groan and blink awake.

“What are you doing here?’ Quinn asked him.

“I’m your emergency contact,” Brady explained.

“God, I’d forgotten about that.”

“How are you?”

“Still feel like shit and almost everything hurts.”

Brady could tell that Quinn didn’t want to talk but he didn’t kick him out of the room which was a positive. After their argument during the game earlier in the season it made Brady reflect and realised that Quinn was completely right.

After getting drafted by the Sens he got swept up in everything. He was still slightly surprised when he made the team and of course the team results weren’t there but he loved the season. He sort of forgot to stay in contact with Quinn. He didn’t know how it happened because Quinn was one of his best friends, but it did.

By the time he realised it was summer and then Quinn didn’t go home over summer and he kept meaning to get in contact with him but then it never happened.

“Can you just talk to me for a bit? It’d be a nice distraction,” Quinn asked.

Brady nodded and launched into story about the newest rookies and the things that he and Chabby had been up to recently. Quinn still looked really tired and his eyes closed a couple of times, but Brady just kept talking.

Unfortunately, the nurse came back in and offered a slight smile.

“Unfortunately visiting hours are over and I can’t let you stay sadly,” she explained.

Brady nodded and made a move to pack up and leave.

“Do you have somewhere to stay yet?” Quinn asked.

“No”

“Stay at mine then. It’s pretty close.”

Brady wanted to protest but it was an easy solution, so he grabbed the address and keys off Quinn and headed out. Quinn’s apartment was dark so he flicked a few lights on and looked in the fridge for something to eat and found a meal he could reheat.

He felt a little bit weird being there without Quinn being around and he felt like he was intruding. The place was nice, and it already felt quite lived in. He was exhausted so decided to go straight to bed. The first door he opened was the bathroom and then the next was Quinn’s bedroom.

Brady couldn’t help but step inside. It was pretty simple room with bed, small table and closet. He couldn’t stop himself from moving and sitting down on Quinn’s bed. He was then able to relax back into Quinn’s smell and he took a deep breath.

Brady wasn’t stupid, he knew that he had a crush on Quinn. He’d known for years at his point and for the last year it had been out of sight, out of mind but just seeing him looking so fragile in hospital made him want to wrap him in a tight hug and not let go.

Despite feeling a bit weird about it he decided he didn’t want to sleep elsewhere so he changed and in seconds fell asleep.

The next morning after waking and eating breakfast he headed for the hospital and headed for Quinn’s room where the smaller man was already awake and there was a nurse with him.

“Morning, Brady,” Quinn smiled slightly.

“Brady, is it? Can you help me get Quinn up? He’s going to be too big for me,” the nurse asked.

She was extremely small, and Quinn would’ve had 9 or 10 inches on her. Brady moved around the bed as Quinn swung his legs around. Quinn grabbed his shoulder but then as soon as he went to put weight on his feet he dropped, and Brady had to hold him up.

“Fuck, my fucking foot,” Quinn cursed.

He then sat back down as the nurse went in search of a wheelchair. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find one.

“I can carry him,” Brady suggested.

Quinn tried to protest but the nurse agreed as long as he was careful. It took a couple of minutes, but they managed to get him up onto Brady’s back. They must have looked absolutely ridiculous walking through the hospital until they got to an x-ray room.

There was a doctor already there and he started talking to Quinn as Brady and the nurse, who introduced herself as Sarah, stepped out.

“Was there an ankle injury already?” Brady asked.

“Not on his charts. I’m guessing that it didn’t get looked at when he came in as they are worried about chest and head and when he tried to walk previously, he was enough painkillers to not notice it,” she explained.

That turned out to be the exact case and Quinn got diagnosed with ankle sprain with luckily nothing was broken. He couldn’t use crutches with the bruising to his shoulders and chest, so Brady had to carry him back.

This time when he put him down Quinn kept his arms around him.

“Can you stay here with me?” he asked quietly.

Brady agreed and arranged their bodies in a more comfortable position and Brady couldn’t help but smile as Quinn was tucked under his arm.

“How are you feeling today?” Brady asked him.

“Still shit. My bruises still all hurt and still can’t keep food down,” Quinn admitted.

Just like yesterday Quinn got him to talk again and Brady was pretty happy to spend the day talking with Quinn even if it was in a hospital.

*******

By the fifth day Quinn was feeling much better and the hospital staff was happy to release him. Brady drove Quinn’s car to the hospital so once he was released Brady could drive him home. When he came in, he found Quinn signing the last papers before he could head out.

He was now using crutches, so it took them a while to hobble out to the car but at last Quinn was back in his own apartment. He collapsed on the couch and Brady settled beside him.

“Can we talk about it then?” Quinn asked after a while.

“If you are ready to,” Brady told him.

Brady then listened to him tell him about all the shit that had happened and the times that he needed to talk to Brady and couldn’t and Brady’s heart just broke listening to it.

“Quinn, I’m so sorry,” Brady told him.

Quinn nodded and Brady hugged him closely.

“So, it got that bad with your parents?” he asked.

“Yeah, I don’t see myself going home for a while.”

“If you feel comfortable you can always come visit us. You know that my parents love you.”

Quinn offered a slight smile and they continued to talk. In his arms he could feel Quinn relax more and more and after a couple of hours of talking Brady felt like they were in a good place. He was hopeful that they could stay like this even after Brady has to leave. He doesn’t want to lose Quinn again.

“Do want me to cook something?” Brady asked

“There are some leftovers in the freezer that you can heat up,” Quinn suggested.

Brady agreed and did just that, so it didn’t take long for him to be back on the couch next to Quinn with food.

“Thank you.”

They didn’t talk as they ate but once they were done Quinn turned to look at him.

“When do you have to leave?” Quinn asked.

“I probably should leave tomorrow,” Brady admitted.

Quinn nodded but pulled him into a tighter hug.

“I’ll miss you,” Quinn whispered.

It was so quiet that Brady only just heard him and for a second thought that he had imagined it.

“Then I’ll make sure to keep in contact with me. I’m not forgetting you again,” Brady told him.

Quinn nodded they spent the evening on the couch together. Quinn made mention of having a shower before going to bed, so he limped towards the bathroom and Brady quickly cleaned up the kitchen.

“Brady,” Quinn called.

Brady dropped what he was doing and rushed to him. He found his standing in the bathroom with the shower running.

“Can you help me?” Quinn asked softly.

Brady nodded and slowly helped him pull his shirt up. This gave him a chance to see the bruises that were littered on his chest and it was clear that he had lost some weight from not eating much. It just made Brady want to protect him more but had to finish helping him undress and then into the shower, which thankfully was relatively large.

At first it was a little awkward, but they managed to figure it out. Since Brady had a couple of inches on Quinn, he was easily able to wash his hair which Brady really had to avoid thinking about how he wanted to do this again.

By the time they got out Quinn was starting to droop again Brady and was clearly ready to sleep.

“Thanks, just wanted to get the smell of the hospital off me,” Quinn told him.

Brady nodded because he would do the same. He helped him get ready for bed before helping him into the bed.

“Can you stay here with me? Just for tonight,” Quinn asked.

Brady couldn’t say no to Quinn, so he agreed and once they were on the bed together Quinn moved him so that Brady was curled around Quinn and they drifted off to sleep.

*******

Brady did have to leave the next day, so Quinn was left alone. The rest of his time off was relaxing as he didn’t do much. Once the medical staff were back, he checked in with them a couple of times for them to check him out.

By the time of their first practice he wasn’t quite cleared for practice, but they said he would hopefully only miss a game or two. They also wanted him to put some weight back on, but he was getting better.

He wasn’t going to practice but he wanted to catch up with everyone and see the medical team again, so he headed to the rink. He was glad to not have to use the crutches anymore, but he was still limping slightly.

“Oh, Quinn what’ve you done to yourself?” Bo asked when he came into the locker room.

“I got sick and then was in an Uber going to the hospital when someone ran a light so got into a car crash as well,” he explained.

“Shit”

“How come you didn’t tell us?” someone asked.

“I had a bit of shit going on and got roped into that.”

Everyone nodded and spread out to change but everyone made sure to check in with Quinn. He checked into with the medical team who cleared him to practice next time, so he was pretty pleased and headed out to sit on the bench as the team practiced.

“Quinn, you look better,” Coach told him.

Quinn nodded and sat down the bench and chirped everyone on the ice. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and smiled when he saw he had a message from Brady. True to the forward’s word they were continuing to talk, even more than had before, and he really liked it.

This meant that he was looking down at his phone, so he didn’t notice Beags come up to him, grab his legs that were dangling over the ice and lifted him up.

“Fuck, Beags, what are you doing?” Quinn cursed.

“Just thought that you need to get out onto the ice.”

Of course, he was then put down on the ice and Jay skated away from him.

“Fuck you,” Quinn called.

He was only wearing converse which of course have no grip and had to slowly walk off the ice since no one was going to help him. At last he managed to get back to the bench everyone offered cheers to which he gave a very sarcastic bow.

Practice ended soon after, so he followed everyone else into locker room. Bo caught him glancing at his phone again and smiled.

“New girlfriend?” he asked.

“Nah, just an old friend that I got back in contact with,” Quinn explained.

Bo raised an eyebrow and he looked pretty sceptical.

“Sure, if that what you are calling it,” Bo teased.

Quinn just rolled his eyes and didn’t respond. Once everyone had showered and changed, they headed out to find somewhere for lunch. To no one’s surprised they ended up at their usual place and it took them about two minutes to order.

“So, you are ok then?” Hutts asked Quinn.

“Getting there.”

“Did you have family with you?” Virts asked since no one from the team was in the city.

“A good friend from the USNDPT came up and stayed with me.”

“Well, that’s good then, nice to know that you had someone with you.”

Quinn nodded but was desperate to change the subject to literally anything else but luckily Petey launched into a story about something that had happened during his trip for the bye week so that got the attention away from him.

Quinn felt himself relax throughout the meal and he had a smile on his face the whole time. Once they were finished Quinn found himself following Troy and Boes with Virts to play video games to pass their afternoon.

Quinn offered to drive Virts and he agreed. He could tell that the winger had something that he wanted to ask but he held it in for a few minutes.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but do you have problems with your parents?” Virts asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t talked to them in more than six months or something. It just got to the point that it was extremely toxic for me and I can’t spend any time with them,” Quinn told him.

“That makes sense.”

“Yeah, told management that I don’t want them invited to any family things or parents’ trips.”

Virts nodded and moved the conversation on.

“How was your break?” Quinn asked him.

This launched him into a story about the shit that he had got up to and that carry them up into the others’ apartment and into an afternoon of trash talking and video games

*******

The Canucks had a day off a few weeks later. Quinn was glad to get back to playing after only missing one game and all his bruising had cleared and he was happy with his play over the last couple of weeks.

Not feeling like doing anything, Quinn hadn’t moved from his bed and it was already late morning. Brady also had the day off, so they had spent their morning talking to each other. Quinn wasn’t going to lie, he wished that Brady was here so that they could curl together rather than having to resort to FaceTime.

“You all healed up now, then?” Brady asked.

“Yeah, still one slightly tender spot on my ribs but I think that is just a hockey bruise,” Quinn explained.

“Sounds about right. Been up to anything interesting?”

“Not recently. It’s been pretty boring out here. What about you?”

“Pretty boring out here too.”

“What? You haven’t got up to any shit?” Quinn teases.

Brady laughed but did have some story about something that he had got up to in Ottawa. He liked listening to Brady talk and he always had funny stories that made Quinn laughed.

“Hey, Brady, you home?” someone called from Brady’s end.

“Yeah, in my room.”

“Do you want me to hang up?” Quinn asked.

“Nah, it’s just Chabby,” Brady explained.

Quinn was about to say something when the defenseman sat down next to Brady.

“So, is this the best friend?” Chabot asked.

“I’m Quinn,” Quinn said.

“Thomas, or Chabby.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, Brady’s always talking about you.”

“Oh, what, Brady, you actually like me?” Quinn teased.

“He more than likes you,” Chabby muttered.

Quinn wasn’t sure what was meant by that and neither of the Senators were going to explain as Brady smacked him on the chest.

“Got any plans for the day, Quinn?” Chabby then asked.

“Nah, I’ve got the day off so don’t want to do anything else,” Quinn smiled.

Chabby agreed and then they spend the next two hours talking together. He’d never met Chabby before, but he was really cool, and he could see why Brady was really good friends with him. By the time he hung up he was still smiling.

*******

It was a slight surprise when the Canucks finished the season in the playoffs. Quinn could see that particular the older guys on the team didn’t really expect that it was going to happen and the day they clinched their playoff stop the locker room was the loudest of any that he had ever been in.

On the other hand, the Senators were still rebuilding so it wasn’t a complete surprised that they finished last in the league again, but it was still hard on Brady and when Quinn was talking to him.

“I don’t really want to go home yet,” Brady admitted.

“You could come and stay with me for a bit if you want,” Quinn suggested.

“Are you sure?” Brady asked.

“Yeah, even once I’m done, I’m going to stay so you can stay as long as you want.”

Brady hummed but sent his flight details through a few days later. He arrived mid-morning, so Quinn was more than happy to meet him at the airport.

He was slightly early, so he parked and found a place to stand in the arrivals lounge, sipping on his coffee. Brady’s flight had just landed, and it didn’t take long for him to appear.

“Hey,” Quinn smiled.

Brady offered one as well before wrapping him in a tight hug.

“It’s so good to see you,” Brady whispered.

“You too.”

At last they broke apart and Brady just smiled again.

“Do you have a bag?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah.”

They then started to catch up waiting for the baggage to start coming out. At last Brady’s bag appeared and they could escape the airport before anyone recognised them.

“When you leave for Vegas?” Brady asked.

“Tuesday.”

Being the wildcard their first games were in Vegas before returning to Vancouver.

“You trust me in your place alone then?” Brady teased.

“What are you saying that I shouldn’t?” Quinn smirked.

“Just pointing out that there is a bit of shit that I could get up.”

Quinn laughed and started their drive.

“I have to go to practice, so I can either drop you off at my place or you can come with me?” Quinn offered.

“Would anyone mind if I came to practice?” Brady asked.

“Nah. You want to come then?”

“Of course.”

Since he didn’t have to via his own place, he was a bit earlier to practice than usual so Petey was the only one in the locker room so far.

“Morning,” Quinn smiled.

Petey offered a slight smile but didn’t say anything. As more people came in the room got loud until we headed out onto the ice. Despite the fact the playoffs were about to start they were all trying to keep the mood light at practice and not be too serious.

While taking a lap he glanced up and saw that Brady had moved to sit on the bench and was talking to Coach.

“Who’s the friend on the bench?” Hutts teased as he skated up to him.

“It’s just Brady,” Quinn told him.

“Tkachuk?”

“Yeah.”

Hutts smirked at him before skating away. For most of the practice he forgot about his friend sitting there but he would occasionally catch his eye and smile. After practice they had a video review in preparation for their upcoming series and then they were free to leave.

“Do you want to go for lunch alone or do you want to join the team?” Quinn asked Brady.

“Team is fine, I’d like to get to know them,” Brady told him.

Quinn smiled and they headed to one of their usual places. Quinn and Brady were shoved into seats in the middle of the table and it was clear that everyone wanted to get to know the stranger.

“So, how long have you guys known each other?” Bo asked.

“It’s been years now,” Brady smiled.

“Yeah, we pretty much grew up together and has played together a few times,” Quinn added.

“Did you play together at college?” Virts asked.

“Nah, I went to BU.”

“I’m guessing that you still managed to get up to a bit of shit together?” Petey asked.

“Yeah, between us, my brothers and his brother it got pretty crazy at times.”

“Bet your parents loved that.”

“As long as no one got punched they didn’t care too much.”

His teammates asked a few more questions of Brady but then they moved into usual conversations. He was happy that they seemed to be getting along well with Brady and it made the meal comfortable.

Brady was starting to tire by the time they made him back to Quinn’s place and he looked ready to sleep.

“Do you want to nap?” Quinn asked him.

Brady shrugged but he looked so exhausted that Quinn wasn’t talking no for an answer. He bullied the forward towards his spare room. Brady collapsed straight on the bed and Quinn dumped his bag in the corner and turned to walk out.

“Can you stay?” Brady asked softly, reaching his arms out.

Being unable to say no Quinn nodded. As soon as he lay down Brady moved him around so that Brady was plastered up against his back and despite the fact he wasn’t tired he fell asleep in seconds.

When he woke again Brady was still asleep but his arms were tightly around him so Quinn couldn’t move without waking the other man and he didn’t want to do that, so he just reached for his phone and started to muck around on it.

He had been awake for over an hour when he heard Brady groan.

“Fuck, I’m still tired,” Brady complained.

“You can keep sleeping if you want,” Quinn suggested.

“Nah, I won’t be able to sleep later,” Brady muttered.

Quinn laughed and neither of them said anything for a while.

“I like your team,” Brady told him.

“Yeah, they’re awesome,” Quinn smiled.

“Even if Horvat and Edler gave me a shovel talk,” Brady continued.

“What?”

“Yeah, it was kind of weird and quite scary.”

“I can’t believe it,” Quinn moaned.

“It was just because they like you. It wasn’t too bad,” Brady smirked.

Quinn just blushed and moaned. Brady laughed and pulled him slightly closer.

“It wasn’t bad,” Brady reassured him.

Quinn nodded and Brady laughed.

“Did I tell you how glad I am that you aren’t playing the Flames?” Brady asked.

“No?”

“Yeah, well, I would’ve had to pick between you and Matty.”

“And you would’ve picked me, right?” Quinn teased.

“Sure, that’s what you think,” Brady chirped.

Quinn snorted and of course he had to wrestle Brady to prove that he was much better which meant by the time he had won he was now lying on top of Brady. They lay there in silence and Quinn felt himself relax.

“I’m glad you are here,” Quinn told him.

“Same, I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

*******

Of course, Quinn’s insomnia came back before their first playoff game. After visiting Ava since the beginning of the season they had managed his insomnia and it wasn’t bothering him anymore. She had given him multiple strategies of how to deal with it and they did help a bit but not much.

By sheer luck he had his own room here, so he wasn’t in the way of anyone else. He sat cross-legged on his bed and focused on his breathing. His thoughts then moved to what he and Ava had been talking about in his sessions recently.

She had got him talking more about his parents and that made Quinn realise just how bad his relationship with his parents had been and it had confirmed that he needed a lot of space from them.

His breathing was slowing down when he phone rang. He wasn’t going to answer it until he noticed it was Brady, so he picked up.

“Hey, how are you?” Quinn asked.

“I’m good but it’s a bit weird being here without you,” Brady admitted.

“It’s kind of weird not being around you as well,” Quinn admitted before he could think about what he was saying.

“Yeah, and I’m not as good of a cook as you. How did you get this good?” Brady asked.

“Quite a bit of practice. I’ve been living on my own for a while now.”

“True, you should teach me some at some point.”

“I could. Would hopefully mean you won’t burn down my kitchen.”

“I would never.”

“Brady, I’ve seen you burn toast and steam out a kitchen trying to boil water,” Quinn smirked.

“That wasn’t my fault,” he protested.

“Then whose fault was it?”

“I don’t know.”

Quinn just laughed and leant backwards so he was lying on the bed.

“Do anything exciting today?” Quinn asked.

“Nah, mostly caught up with people I hadn’t talked to in a while and sorted a few things out that I had been ignoring since the season finished.”

“Sounds thrilling then.”

Brady laughed and they spent another half an hour on the phone before Brady must have glanced at the time.

“Shit, shouldn’t you be asleep?” Brady asked.

“Potentially.”

“Good luck tomorrow then,” Brady said before hanging up.

After talking to him Quinn was feeling a lot more relaxed and was able to fall asleep in minutes

*******

The Canucks’ season ended with a 3-2 loss in game 6. The locker room was obviously disappointed to not be able to push it to a game 7 in front of their own fans, but everyone made an effort to be optimistic about being able to do even better next year.

The one good thing was that since they were at home once he left the arena, he could head straight home rather than having to stay in a hotel. Brady was still awake and, on the couch, when Quinn opened the door.

“Oh, Quinn,” Brady said, standing up and pulling him into a tight hug.

Quinn let out a slight sob and pulled him tighter.

“How are you?” Brady asked.

“Not too bad. It really hurts but it’ll get better,” Quinn whispered.

Brady nodded before pushing him towards his bedroom. Quinn let Brady strip him out of his suit and then pushed him onto his bed. Brady climbed in beside him and wrapped him in a hug.

They didn’t talk at all as Brady slowly traced patterns on his arms. It helped him relax a bit and was able to fall asleep. When he woke the next morning, Brady was still wrapped around him but was already awake.

“How are you this morning?” Brady asked.

“Better.”

Brady hummed and they continued to lie there for a while.

“What are your plans for summer then?” Brady asked.

“Not really sure yet. I’m going to stay here all summer but want to catch up with people as well that I haven’t seen in a while,” Quinn explained.

“You should invite them while I’m still here. Have a good catch up,” Brady suggested.

“That sounds great,” Quinn smiled.

He didn’t want to ask Brady when he had to go home because he didn’t want him to leave. He sent a message to Josh asking if he wanted to come up and visit for a while and got an instant yes. He then sent one to Luke as well and also got a yes there as well.

“Just the four of us then?” Brady asked.

“I think so. It’ll be nice,” Brady smiled.

Quinn smiled but had to get up because their locker cleanout was today so that it could be over and done with. Quinn left Brady at home and by the time he got in a lot of the team was already there.

He suffered through the media questions before packing up his locker. Virts started playing his music really loudly and that got people chirping him for it. It didn’t take long for Quinn to pack up but everyone else was still hanging out as no one wanted to leave it.

“Well, I’m going to be in the city all summer so anyone that’s around should come and do something,” Quinn told them.

“Same,” Virts added.

A lot of the team was heading home in the next week or so and for a few of them it meant heading home to Europe. A few players were looking to go to the World Champs, so they were spreading out over the next week.

Since they didn’t want to separate yet they headed out to lunch together and it was kind of weird knowing that it was the last time for a while and not all of them would be back next season.

“Your friend Tkachuk still here?” Bo asked.

“Yeah.”

“For how long?”

“Not completely sure. Luke is coming and so is my friend Josh so we are going to have a week catching up so that’ll be nice,” Quinn smiled.

“Not going home?”

“Nah. My parents and I don’t see eye to eye, so I avoid it as much as possible.”

Bo raised an eyebrow and Quinn just shrugged.

“It’s fine. What about you?” Quinn asked.

“Heading home. Got a few plans to meet up with various people but other than that it’s just the usual.”

Quinn nodded before turning to the people around him to see what they were planning on doing. It was sad when people slowly started heading out and soon there weren’t many people left so Quinn decided to head out as well.

“Have a good summer, man,” Hutts smiled.

“You guys too.”

“I’m sure you’ll have fun with Tkachuk,” Bo smirked.

Quinn wasn’t exactly sure what he was meaning by that, so he just nodded before heading out. It had been a great season and he loved his team and couldn’t wait for them to all be back to hopefully can do better next season.

*******

Luckily Josh and Luke were arriving at the similar times, so it meant only one trip to the airport. Brady was claiming laziness, so it was just Quinn. Luke was the first one to arrive and Quinn was pleased to see his younger brother.

“Quinnie, how are you?” Luke smiled, hugging him tightly.

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Been better.”

“Really, how come?”

“It’s just Jack at home and you know what Mom’s like with him,” Luke explained.

Quinn just sighed and wrapped his brother in a tighter hug.

“Well, you can stay here as long as like,” Quinn assured him.

“Thanks, it’s just that she doesn’t realise that she is going to lose a second son and still not realise what she is doing wrong,” Luke admitted.

Quinn nodded and moved the conversation onto other things as they waited for Josh. It didn’t take long for the forward to come out.

“My favourite Hughes,” Josh smiled as he hugged Luke.

“You’re hilarious,” Quinn rolled his eyes.

“I know. No Brady?” he asked hugging Quinn.

“He’s too lazy and didn’t want to get out of bed.”

The other two just laughed and followed him out to his car. By the time they got back to his apartment Brady had managed to make it out of bed and was waiting for them near the door. It took them a few minutes to greet each other.

“What are we going with our bags?” Josh asked.

“I’ve only got one spare room but there is a bed and inflatable mattress so you can fight it out,” Quinn explained, showing them the room.

“What about Brady?” Josh asked.

“Brady and I can share, we have quite a few times,” Quinn explained.

Josh smirked at him, but Quinn just ignored it. The weather was nice enough that they could sit out on his balcony even if there was only just enough room for the four of them. Quinn was jammed in one corner, sitting cross-legged, but it was nice to have Josh and Luke with them.

Quinn had talked to Josh a number of times throughout the season, but it was different being able to talk to him in person. It was the same for Luke, but Quinn couldn’t help but notice that Luke was looking a bit down.

Brady offered to go pick up dinner and Quinn was glad that Josh went with him because it gave him a chance to talk to Luke alone. He thinks that they both noticed this and left the brothers alone.

“How are you?” Quinn asked.

“Not good, I can see why you don’t come home,” Luke sighed.

Quinn nodded and opened his arms, so Luke scooted across and curled up beside him.

“At least I’ll be at college next year and not at home because I can’t do it anymore,” Luke continued.

“That bad then?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah, after every game that Jack plays, she has something to say about it and games that I play she has something that Jack would’ve done better despite the fact he is a fucking forward,” Luke cursed.

“Shit, really.”

“Yeah, I can’t do it anymore.”

It made Quinn so mad. His parents were going to end up with only Jack talking to them because at this rate he and Luke were going to stop talking to them and never see them again.

“Well, if you want, I can come back, help you pack up your stuff and you can stay here and train with me for the rest of the summer if you want,” Quinn suggested.

“You’d do that for me?” Luke asked.

“Of course.”

“Then, I might because I can’t do it anymore. You wouldn’t mind me using your spare room?”

“Of course not. I have it for that reason.”

“Even with Brady here?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how long he will be here.”

Luke smiled and they sat here for a while.

“What is going on between you and him?” Luke asked.

“What?”

“You clearly like him but you aren’t dating, right?” Luke asked.

“Yeah, how did you know?” Quinn asked, having never fully discussed his sexuality with his family.

“If you actually pay attention to you it’s kind of obvious that you aren’t interested in girls. I’ve seen extremely hot girls flirt with you and you didn’t care at all,” Luke smirked.

Quinn frowned because he couldn’t even think of the time that Luke was reference but could believe that it had happened.

“It’s just the rest of our family don’t pay enough attention. Anyway, you and Brady?” Luke smirked.

“I like him, but he’s not interested in me,” Quinn explained.

Luke just snorted at him but let him go. They continued to talk for a while and Quinn was definitely fine with him staying here and he was kind of looking forward to having him with him. A few minutes later the door opened, and Josh and Brady came in loudly discussing the basketball.

“You’ll be fine then?” Quinn asked as Luke headed inside the join them.

“Yeah, thanks to you though,” Luke smiled.

Quinn smiled before sitting down at the table to eat. It was a nice relaxing evening and Quinn had a smile on his face and everyone else seemed to be in a good mood. Josh and Luke headed to bed relatively early since of the time zone, so he and Brady did as well.

“It’s nice to see Josh and Luke again,” Brady smiled as they got ready for bed.

“Yeah.”

“How was your talk with Luke? He looked better when we got back,” Brady asked.

Quinn then explained what had happened between Luke and his parents and Brady just sighed, knowing about Quinn own issues.

“At least you can look out for him, but that’s bad,” Brady said.

Quinn nodded and collapsed on the bed. Brady joined him a couple of moments later and curled up around him. Quinn relaxed back into his arms and after a couple more minutes of talking he drifted off to sleep.

*******

After a few days of just relaxing around the apartment for a couple of days they decided to go to the beach. Quinn drove them to the same beach he had been to with Virts months ago but since it was now early May and much warmer.

It was a really nice day and as soon as they got there Quinn headed straight for the water. It wasn’t exactly warm, but it was nice. Of course, the moment he turned his back to his friends Brady jumped up onto his back, so they toppled into the water.

“Fuck you,” Quinn cursed when he stood up.

Brady was just laughing so Quinn jumped him to shove him back into the water. After wrestling him for a while before they tired themselves out. They were both soaking wet, but the water was nice, so Quinn just lay back in the water and floated in the water for a while.

He could hear the other three talking around him, but he wasn’t listening to them. After a while he was starting to get cold, so he stood up.

“This was an awesome idea,” Josh smiled.

Quinn smiled and headed out of the water. To warm himself up he wrapped a towel around himself before sitting down on the sand to watch the other three continue to muck around. Josh and Luke had ganged up on Brady and he was getting soaked.

He had just lay back and closed his eyes when he felt something dripping on him.

“Yes?”

“You sure that you don’t want to join us again?” Brady asked.

“I’m fine.”

Of course, Brady decided that that wasn’t the right answer so instead Quinn felt himself lifted up over Brady’s shoulder.

“Brady, no, no, stop,” he complained.

The forward just laughed, and he wasn’t surprised when he was dumped back into the water. He spluttered up out of the water before jumping Brady once again which made him laugh. This time once they all headed out of the water together and he settled back on the beach to eat.

“I could imagine that this is really nice in the middle of summer,” Luke smiled.

“Yeah”

As they ate, they talked more and caught up more as to what each other had been up to throughout the season. As the afternoon moved on Quinn was able to relax more and he found his head resting in Brady’s lap and drifting off to sleep in the sun.

He was jolted waken by someone shaking his shoulder.

“What’s up?” Quinn muttered.

“We should head out. You look like you are about to get sunburnt too,” Brady explained.

Quinn agreed but was still slightly out of it so he had to be helped up off the ground and there was no way he was awake enough to drive so he slumped into the backseat and dozed off for a couple of minutes before they pulled up to his apartment.

He decided that to head to bed to nap so collapsed on the bed and fell asleep again.

*******

For the next couple of days, they mostly spent the time lazing around which made Quinn feel pretty relaxed. A week after they had all been in Vancouver he woke up with once again with Brady plastered against his back.

“Mornin’” Brady muttered.

“Morning”

Luke and Josh weren’t awake, as he couldn’t hear them moving about, so Quinn didn’t feel any pressure to get up.

“How are you?” Brady asked.

“Not bad, you?” Quinn asked, rolling over to face Brady.

Brady agreed and they started talking. Neither of them felt like moving anywhere even when he did hear someone else did get up.

“It feels like our time back in the USNTDP,” Quinn said.

“Do you miss it?” Brady asked.

“A bit but I really like my team here, but it was still one of my best times on a team,” Quinn admitted.

“I still sometimes look for you and Josh and others in the locker room and it’s been a while since we were there,” Brady admitted.

“Yeah, it’s weird not having you here all the time.”

“I miss having you around.”

“Yeah, it’s not the same.”

Brady pulled him slightly closer and Quinn was more than happy to move. He couldn’t help but wish that he could kiss him, but he knew that that was a terrible idea.

“Are you sure that you can’t get traded to the Sens?” Brady asked.

“And why would I want that?” Quinn teased.

“Oh, Quinn, I like you too,” Brady laughed.

Quinn couldn’t hope but wish that could be truer.

“I’d love to have you play with me again.”

Brady then leant forward, and Quinn thought he was maybe going to kiss him until Josh called out.

“Guys, we are going out for breakfast so get the fuck up and join us.”

Brady jumped back and they both quickly got up and changed without talking. Josh and Luke were already waiting for them and had fake annoyed looks on their faces.

“Come on, we’ve hungry,” Luke pouted.

Quinn just ruffled his hair and they headed out together. He was glad that Brady wasn’t awkward so maybe he was overthinking what had happened. He just had push it out of his head as they walked into a small café and was quickly seated.

“So, I should probably head home soon,” Josh said.

“Yeah, same, Matty’s been asking me about it for a while,” Brady added.

Quinn wasn’t surprised at that because it was coming close to two months that he had been here. He didn’t want them to leave but he knew that that had their own families to see before the upcoming season started.

“If you guys are leaving then do you mind coming with me to get my stuff?” Luke asked Quinn.

“Of course not.”

“Are you going to move here?” Josh asked Luke.

“Yeah, I can’t stay at home anymore and Quinn offered to come and get my stuff with me.”

The other two just left it at that and they moved on to talking about things so that they could enjoy the last of their time together before they went their separate directions.

*******

A few days later they were saying goodbye at the airport. Quinn hugged both of his friends as they left for their own flights before Luke and Quinn boarded their flight. It wasn’t bad flight, but they were both pretty nervous about it. They had rented a car at the other end just as it was easier, and the drive was silent.

They were arriving at a time that their Dad was going to be at working but they had no idea if Jack or Mom was going to be there. Quinn pulled up in front of their house and they sat there for a second.

“Are we doing this?” Quinn asked.

“I guess so,” Luke muttered.

It took a couple more minutes before they actually moved out of the car and towards the house. Quinn knocked on the door and when no one answered Luke unlocked the door and they headed in. It seemed that they had gotten lucky and no one was home.

Luke headed straight for his room and Quinn slipped into his to see if there was anything that he wanted that he had forgotten about. It was mostly empty has he hadn’t really lived in it for years but there were a couple of shirts that he grabbed but he left the rest of it before joining Luke in his own room.

“What do you want me to pack?” he asked.

Luke just shrugged so he sat down on his bed. Most of his clothes were already in Vancouver so it was quickly sorting through everything else as to what he wanted. In under an hour Luke had everything and they had it in one bag and his gear bag.

Of course, they couldn’t possibly get lucky as they were just carrying the stuff out when Mom and Jack came in the door. Everyone stood in silence for a second with the two pairs not expecting to see the other.

“It’s good to see both back. I hope you guys are staying for a while,” Mom smiled.

“We’re not, Quinn’s letting me stay with him for the rest of summer,” Luke said.

“No, you aren’t. Why would you do that?” Mom asked.

“Because you are doing the same thing that you did to Quinn and I’m not staying and listening to you,” Luke snapped.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’ve started insulting me more and telling me how much better Jack is and I can’t take it anymore.”

“Come on, just at least stay for a while, you guys are being dramatic,” Jack interrupted, the first time he had ever said anything during one of these arguments.

“Yeah, I haven’t even done anything,” Mom added.

“Really, then let me explain. Because of the shit that you have said to me I suffer from insomnia and anxiety to the point that I couldn’t sleep for days because of shit that you have said. You really hurt my self-confidence and I’m not letting you do the same to Luke. I will not be talking to you until you realise the fucking shit that you have put me through because the worst part is that you don’t even realise. Your head is too far up Jack’s ass that you don’t realise that you haven’t cared or been nice to us in years and I’m not taking it anymore,” Quinn snapped.

Mom stood there in shock which gave Quinn an opportunity to push past them and Luke could follow him out. They put the stuff in the car and Quinn just sat in the drivers’ seat for a minute calming his breathing down.

“Thank you,” Luke whispered.

Quinn shrugged but had to blink a couple of tears back. Luckily neither Jack nor Mom came out so after a couple of minutes he felt safe to drive back to the airport. They had a couple of hours before their flight back to Vancouver, so they checked in and settled at the gate.

As soon as they sat down Luke wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Thank you for everything,” Luke whispered.

“You’re welcome”

They sat silently for a while stuck in their own thoughts.

“On a nicer note, what is going on with you and Brady?” Luke asked.

“Nothing, still, it’s the same as when you last asked,” Quinn told him.

“Come on, you were sharing a bed and everything.”

“And nothing happened. I don’t even think that he likes me.”

“Holy shit, you really are that oblivious,” Luke muttered.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that right?”

Quinn just shrugged because that didn’t answer his question and he really didn’t know what his brother was talking about. They talked a little more before boarding and the flight seemed even longer than the previous one but at last, they were back in Vancouver.

After having Josh and Brady around as well the apartment felt kind of strange with just the two of them, but it was better that being alone.

*******

The summer continued without many more problems. It was really cool to train with Luke but soon enough he had to head out to Michigan and training camp started. After having someone else live with him for months was weird be living alone.

The first day of training camp finally rolled around and Quinn wasn’t surprised when the first person was Virts, who immediately jumped up into his arms.

“Quinn, how are you?” he screeched.

“I’m good, how about you?”

“Awesome, it’s good to see you again.”

Quinn had to laugh at his enthusiasm but half carried him into the locker room where a few of the guys were already as well as various rookies and other players he didn’t know. It was loud and everyone was talking as they changed and headed out onto the ice.

Coach had a few words to say before they started, and it was awesome to be back on the ice with everyone. They were divided into teams to start working on drills. He was working with the Canucks first round pick from this year Mason Fox.

He was a really good player already and it was clear that Coach was already taking a good look at him. He was pretty quiet, so Quinn made an effort to talk to him a bit between drills. Once they got off the ice, they had meetings and other bits and pieces before finishing up for the day.

The guys decided to go out for food, and it gave everyone a chance to catch up.

“How was your summer?” Bo asked him.

“Good, my brother was living with me for the summer so that was really cool,” Quinn explained.

“How come your brother was staying with you?”

“It was my youngest brother and we’ve been having problems with my parents, so he stayed with me.”

“Really? Are you ok?” Bo asked.

“Yeah, just don’t really want to talk about it. How was your summer?”

“It was good. Went home, saw a bunch of people so it was good.”

They then tuned in in time to hear Virts explain the shit that he had got up.

“How do you still manage to get up to so much shit?” Quinn asked him.

“I’m just really talented,” he smirked.

Everyone laughed at him because he really was. Virts always managed to get into the strangest situations and it made hilarious conversations.

“How’s your boyfriend?” Petey asked.

“Who?” Quinn asked.

“Tkachuk,” he smirked.

“Good I think, but still not my boyfriend.”

“Sure.”

Everyone at his end of the table laughed but Quinn just rolled his eyes and didn’t say anything. It was great to have everyone back he was looking forward to the upcoming season.

*******

The first game of the season came around and to the surprise of mostly himself Mason was still on the roster and was going to be playing in the first game.

“You still in a hotel?” Quinn asked him after practice.

“Yeah, it’s getting a little tiresome,” he admitted.

“Then do you want to stay at my place? I have a spare room,” Quinn offered.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, in fact I’d like it if you did because I had people staying with me all summer and I kind of miss having someone else around.”

“That would be awesome then.”

Mason then disappeared off to do something else and Quinn was left alone in the locker room to finish changing. Of course, he was only alone for a minute before Hutts came in.

“You taking in Foxy?” he asked, the nickname clearly Mason’s.

“Yeah.”

“Look at you. You veteran, taking in rookies already,” he teased.

“Yeah, well, I like having someone living with me.”

“And he almost looks like another Hughes brother.”

Quinn paused because he hadn’t really thought about it before, but it could be true. He was a few inches shorter, very short of a hockey player, but had the same dark hair and similar and could pass as his younger brother.

“I guess I just like having a brother living with me,” Quinn laughed.

Mason moved in that afternoon and since he hadn’t really unpacked out of his suitcase it was an easy process and after five minutes, he joined Quinn sitting at the table.

“You have any rules with me living here?” Mason asked.

“Not really, just be respectful and if you pick anyone up, keep it to your own room,” Quinn explained.

“I can do that.”

“Then this will go well then.”

Mason smiled and they settled into their pregame routine. Quinn drove the younger player to the arena, and he could see he was getting more and more nervous.

“You’ll kill it out there,” Quinn assured him.

Mason smiled but didn’t say anything. He stayed quiet throughout warmups before the game which was against the Oilers. He got his traditional lap as a rookie, but it seemed to calm him down a bit and he looked pretty focused on the game.

The game went well, and they finished with a 5-0 win. The locker room was unsurprisingly very loud, and everyone was in a good mood. Quinn smiled when he noticed that Mason had relaxed a bit and was smiling as he talked to Petey.

Of course, it meant that they ended up at a club. Quinn let himself be dragged by Hutts and Virts onto the dance floor and he let himself let go. He was having a good time when a girl came up to him.

“You’re cute,” she smiled.

“Not interested,” Quinn told her.

“Oh, come on, I’m sure your girlfriend won’t mind,” she teased, hand now on his chest.

“I’m not dating anyone; I’m just not interested in you.”

He then tried to step backwards but he stepped into someone’s chest. He turned around to see a guy who had at least six inches on him and he couldn’t move.

“Come on, she just wants sex with you,” the guy told him.

“And I have said that I’m not interested,” Quinn repeated just wanting to get out of this situation.

“Come on”

Quinn tried to push past him, but the guy wouldn’t let him leave.

“Don’t leave her hanging,” the guy said.

Quinn wasn’t sure what to do but Edler spoke up from behind him.

“Are you causing problems for my friends?”

The guy jumped and that gave Quinn an opportunity to slip out of the situation and then took a deep breath.

“Are you alright?” the older defenceman asked.

“Yeah, I think I might just head out,” Quinn told him.

As soon as he got outside, he had to sit down on the sidewalk for a moment to calm down. He honestly wasn’t sure what had just happened. Of course, as he was sitting there the same girl and guy came out with a group of their friends.

“Looks like you’re alone,” one of the other girls teased.

“I bet he is going to be alone for his whole life.”

“Yeah, no one is going to want him.”

“I bet he’s a fucking faggot.”

“Yeah, don’t know why I wanted him. He’s way uglier now that I actually see him,” the girl laughed.

Quinn couldn’t move but luckily, they then got into a car leaving him sitting there alone again. He wasn’t going to cry in public, so he stood up, headed back to his apartment. Mason was still at the club, so he had the place to himself, but he just headed straight to his room.

He lay down on the bed and pulled his knees up, so he was in the fetal position and a few tears leaked out of his eyes.

Of course, he wasn’t able to sleep. He heard Mason come back hours ago, but he still didn’t move. At last he managed to drift off to sleep but he still felt like shit.

*******

For the next few days he had been feeling pretty down. He wasn’t sure why those strangers’ comments got to him so much, but they did. Just the one about being alone really got to him.

This of course coincided with their first road trip down into California so it would be noticed if he just hid away in his room which he was sharing with Mason. It meant that he had to put on a smile and fake it.

The first night there was a team dinner which of course was loud, and everyone had smiles on. It was a good way to learn more about their new teammates but right now it felt like it was killing Quinn. He didn’t want to be around people.

He was seated down one end of the table with Hutts, Bo and Mason. Bo was asking Mason some more questions about himself and since he lived with the younger defenceman Quinn already knew most of the answers.

He ended up getting roped into a conversation with Hutts about his summer since he hadn’t managed to hear much about his yet. The dinner seemed to drag on forever but at last he was able to stand up and leave.

Bo caught him as they headed for the elevator and he smiled at him.

“How are you?” Bo asked.

“Not bad.”

“It’s just you’ve been very quiet recently and looked a little down lately,” Bo explained.

“I’m fine, honestly.”

“Then, just remember that you can talk to us if you want to.”

Bo then slipped into his own room leaving Quinn standing alone in the corridor. He wasn’t sure what to think about so just headed to his own room. He had seen Mason head up with Virts, so he wasn’t surprised when his room was empty.

He collapsed on bed and just lay there for a moment. His phone started ringing and he glance that the contact that came up. It was Brady and he really didn’t feel like talking so just let it ring out. Instead he got up off the bed and headed for a shower instead.

He didn’t feel better after a shower, so he just went to bed. Mason came back at some point, but Quinn had the lights off and faked being asleep and continued to lie there.

The next day the routine of practice and meetings helped him get out of his own thoughts. The game was against the Kings and it was their home opener so the pregame took longer than usual. At last the game started and it was a physical game.

On his first shift he found himself continuously getting shoved up against the boards and he knew that he was going to be hurting after the game, but he had to deal with it. It only spiralled out of control from there.

It was late in the second period with the score one all when Quinn was on the ice. He watched as one of the Kings’ defencemen landed a heavily, and slightly illegal, hit on Mason and he landed on the ice and didn’t immediately get up.

He honestly wasn’t sure what he was thinking but he was the closest Canucks and he took a swing at the Kings’ player. He was luckily that he was about Quinn’s height and only had 20 pounds on him, so it wasn’t a completely unfair fight.

It was Quinn’s first fight and he got lucky hit and then the other play fell to the ice pulling Quinn down on top of him. This led the refs to break it up and as Quinn was skating towards the penalty box the bench was clapping, and thankful Mason stood up and seemed fine.

When he made it back to the bench quite a few of his teammates clapped him on the back. The period ended not long later and as soon as he got off the ice, he headed over to Mason.

“You alright?” Quinn asked.

“I’m fine, you didn’t have to fight for me,” Mason told him.

“You’re the rookie. No one can hurt you,” Quinn explained.

Mason smiled and headed to his own locker. The rest of the game was more of the same and they managed to pull out a 3-1 win. It seemed to take forever for them to get out of the arena and back to the hotel and by the time they did Quinn was exhausted.

He had bruises already blooming on his chest and he was still feeling shit. Mason seemed to be taking forever in the bathroom, so he was just lying on his bed trying to fall asleep with the lights still on.

He glanced at his phone and noticed that he had a number of texts from Brady. He didn’t feel like replying, so he just ignored them, plugged his phone into the charger and closed his eyes.

*******

By the time they were back in Vancouver he was still feeling shit. He had an appointment with Ava in a couple of days because she couldn’t fit him in earlier, so he just had to try and focus on other things.

They had the day off since they got back to Vancouver early in the morning since they had left California after the game, so they got back really early in the morning. Both Mason and Quinn took the opportunity to sleep in and he was just awake when someone knocked on his door.

He was unsure who it would be since they had already gotten into the building, but he assumed that it was one of his teammates and he had been let in, but he was surprised when he opened the door and it wasn’t a Canuck.

Instead Brady was standing on the other side and he didn’t say anything for a moment in shock.

“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked.

“I noticed we both had a day off and I wanted to talk to you,” Brady explained.

“You could’ve called,” Quinn said, inviting him in.

“And I would’ve but you haven’t been answering me.”

That was true. They didn’t say anything for a few moments as they sat at the table. And then Mason came in and he took one look at them and headed for the door before Quinn could say anything.

“I’m heading out, so you can have the place to yourselves,” Mason explained.

Quinn was going to protest but he slipped out of the apartment, shutting the door and leaving him alone with Brady.

“So, Quinn, what’s been going on?” Brady asked.

He then broke down and explained what had happened at the club and how it made him feel. As he was speaking Brady got up but thankful just moved to sit next to Quinn and wrap him in a half hug.

“Have you talked to someone about this?” Brady asked.

“Not yet, I’ve got an appointment with my therapist in a couple of days, but it’s not something that I want to talk to my teammates about,” Quinn admitted.

“You have a therapist?”

“Yeah, for my insomnia originally but I’ve got other problems underlying that.”

“Wait, insomnia?”

“Yeah, side-effect of my anxiety and the situation with my family the summer before last really made it really bad.”

“You don’t have a girlfriend here or something you can talk to?” Brady asked.

“Nah, no girlfriend,” Quinn said.

“Well, maybe you will find some girl to date.”

“I don’t think so.”

“How come?”

“I’m gay,” Quinn admitting.

“Oh, ok, I’m bi,” Brady told him.

They sat there for a minute as they took in the fact that they just came out to each other.

“No boy then?” Brady smirked.

“Nah, I’m not dating anyone at the moment.”

“Well, then, you can talk to me about anything like this.”

“Thanks, how long do you have here?” Quinn asked.

“My flight’s tomorrow morning. I’ve got practice tomorrow afternoon, so I need to be back for that.”

Quinn nodded but then yawned since he hadn’t got enough sleep yet.

“Do you want to nap first?” Brady asked.

“Yeah, but don’t want to waste your time here,” Quinn admitted.

“Yeah, I’m fine napping since I had to get up relatively early to get here.”

Quinn nodded so let Brady push him towards his bedroom. Quinn lay straight down on the bed and Brady joined him after pulling his shoes and jeans off. Once the forward was pressed up against him, he fell asleep in seconds.

When he woke Brady was awake but hadn’t moved from beside Quinn.

“You feeling better?” Brady asked.

“I’m feeling more awake than before.”

“Mmm, have you got any plans for the day?”

“Nah, I’m kind of hungry though.”

Brady agreed but neither of them made an effort to move at all. Quinn was enjoying have Brady curled around him but after a few more minutes his hunger won out, so he crawled out of bed and pulled an old USA shirt and sweatpants on and headed out to the kitchen.

He had just grabbed some ingredients out to make lunch when Brady came out not having grabbed some sweatpants of Quinn’s that were a good couple of inches too short which made him laugh and Brady just rolled his eyes.

“It’s not my fault you are tiny,” Brady teased.

Quinn laughed and Brady moved to sit on the bench.

“Do you me to do anything?” he asked.

“Nah, I’ve got it and I’m not sure I trust you in the kitchen.”

Brady just pouted but didn’t bother protesting. Brady kept talking while Quinn cooked, talking about his own team, some stories he had from various American players that they both know and that kept him laughing until lunch was ready.

He was feeling lazy, so he just jumped up onto the bench to sit beside Brady. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to sit and each, but it was easy. Quinn had kind of forgotten how much Brady could make him laugh but he felt better than he had in a while.

“I can clean up if you want,” Brady offered once they were done.

Quinn agreed since it wasn’t going to be hard anyway and he continued to sit there. Once he was finished instead of sitting back down beside him, Brady stepped in between his legs so that their faces were almost touching.

“Thank you for trusting me earlier, particular about your sexuality,” Brady told him.

“Of course, I trust you.”

Brady hummed and Quinn couldn’t help but notice but Brady’s eyes flickered down to his lips and he looked like he was maybe going to kiss him but of course that was just when the apartment door burst open. Brady jumped back and Quinn was disappointed.

“Hey, lovebirds, I hope you both have your clothes on,” Virts chirped from the doorway.

Quinn just rolled his eyes and soon found most of the younger guys on the team in his kitchen including Mason.

“I tried to keep them away, but you know what Virts is like,” Mason whispered to him.

“It’s fine.”

Of course the kitchen didn’t really have enough room for all of them so they moved into the lounge and as much as Quinn would’ve liked to have the afternoon alone with Brady, it was still great to have everyone around and after the serious conversation that he and Brady had had earlier it was a nice break.

*******

Quinn ended up driving Brady to the airport before heading to practice. After everyone had cleared out the night before they pretty much went straight to bed and hadn’t had much of a chance to talk much more.

It was nice to wake up against Brady again, but they had to get up and get moving quickly. The drive wasn’t too busy which was nice and soon enough he pulled up to the airport.

“Thanks for coming,” Quinn told him.

“You’re welcome. I’m always here for you,” Brady smiled.

Brady wrapped him in a hug, but he then had to get out and get his flight.

“Call me whenever you need someone to talk to,” Brady told before shutting the door.

Quinn agreed but had to drive out of the airport to make it to practice on time. By the time he made it into the locker room most of the team was already here.

“I didn’t know what your boyfriend was going to be here yesterday,” Virts teased.

“Still not my boyfriend.”

“Of course, he’s not,” Virts snorted.

“What are you meaning?”

“Nothing.”

Quinn was still slightly confused but he had to quickly change so that he wasn’t late to practice. He was the last one onto the ice and Coach just smirked at him.

“Thank you for joining us,” he called.

Quinn laughed and skated over to join everyone else. Practice was good, especially since he was in the best mood he had been in in a while. He had just changed out of his gear when Mason came over to talk to them.

“I’m really sorry about everyone coming around yesterday,” Mason apologised again.

“It was absolutely fine. I had a good time with everyone there,” Quinn told him.

“It’s just I left so that you and Brady could have time alone, so I went to Boes’ but then he asked why I wasn’t at home and then of course Virts found out and he had to go and visit,” Mason continued.

“It’s fine, Mase, calm down.”

“I mean you don’t get much time with you boyfriend.”

“Brady’s not my boyfriend.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not dating Brady.”

Mason just stares at him and Quinn shrugs.

“I don’t know what Virts told you but he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Virts didn’t tell me he was,” Mason muttered.

He still looked a bit confused, so Quinn just let him be and headed towards the video room for team review.

******

Quinn was honestly surprised when he was named to the All-Star game with Petey in Anaheim. It was made even better when Brady was named as well so they would be able to catch up. Of course, Jack was named as well but Quinn was pretty sure that he could avoid him.

After their last game before the break he and Petey got on a plane to fly down to All-Stars. Petey was on his third All-Star already so he was a veteran at this. By the time they made it to the hotel there were already people waiting for them. Luckily it was only to had them a schedule and room keys.

Quinn was surprised when he pushed his door open and found Brady sitting on one of the beds.

“Bradyyyyy,” he cheered.

Brady quickly jumped up and wrapped Quinn in a tight hug, lifting him up off the ground slightly.

“This is awesome.”

They didn’t have to do until the next day, so Quinn ended up curled up next to Brady on his bed watching trashy TV. It was one of the most relaxing nights he had had in a while getting to catch up with Brady and it wasn’t a surprise when he fell asleep there.

When he woke the next morning, his head was resting on Brady’s chest. After glancing at the time, he noticed that he had to had to be up in a few minutes, so he climbed out of bed and showered. By the time he was out of the bathroom, Brady was awake.

“Morning”

“Morning, do you mind waiting for me so I can shower before we go down from breakfast?” Brady asked.

Quinn didn’t mind so mucked around for a while before Brady was ready go down as well. A number of players were already there so they settled at a table with a lot of the young American players including Matthew Tkachuk who Quinn knew pretty well through Brady.

It was great to catch up with a lot of players that he had played with at various times and he was looking forward to playing with a few different plays.

The media was crazy. They had to do some stupid shit which would make the fans laugh but it was a lot of questions and more media than Quinn had had to deal with for a while. By the time he got a chance to sit down in a corner for lunch he was exhausted.

He got two minutes into his peace and eating his sandwich when someone sat down beside him. He almost groaned as he just wanted peace even if he was sitting in a corridor but when he noticed with was the elder Tkachuk he didn’t mind so much.

“How are you?” Matt asked.

“Not too bad. Just need a break for a moment.”

“Yeah, lots of people around and it can a little tiresome.”

Quinn hummed and continued to eat his sandwich and Matt seemed to be content to sit in silence for a few minutes.

“I don’t know what is going on between you and my brother but if you hurt him, I will hurt you,” Matt said suddenly.

Quinn chocked on his sandwich and struggled to stammer an answer out.

“We’re just friends.”

“Sure, well don’t hurt him.”

He then stood up and disappeared around the corner leaving Quinn sitting there unsure as to watch had just happened. He sat there for a couple more minutes before he couldn’t hide for much longer and headed back to continue his media duties.

The rest of his afternoon was fun, but he was exhausted by the time he was done. He was sitting down at an empty table, waiting for others to finish up, when Connor McDavid sat down opposite him.

Unsurprisingly the Pacific Teams’ captain was McDavid, so it wasn’t a surprise when he started talking about the skills challenge tomorrow.

“How do you feel about the passing challenge tomorrow?” he asked.

“As long as you aren’t asking me to do the hardest shot, I’m fine,” Quinn laughed.

McDavid smiled slightly and they moved to talking about other hockey things. He didn’t really know McDavid at all, and he was clearly very focused, but he wasn’t bad to talk about. They didn’t have to hold the conversation for long before they both got called away by other people.

It was a fun day for media, but he felt a bit awkward still in front of the cameras, so he was glad that most of the players headed to a bar after food.

Quinn didn’t really drink but having so many players together created a good environment and he was smiling. He was sitting in a booth with a few other players when a very drunk Brady stumbled into sit beside him.

“How much have you had to drink?” Quinn smirked at him.

“Not much,” Brady protested.

Quinn just laughed and was proven right when his protests started to slur a bit. A few players had already disappeared but most of them were keen to get pretty drunk.

“Come dance with me,” Brady smiled.

Quinn was too weak when he came to the forward, so he agreed and let himself be dragged out of the booth and into the crowd. Since he was drunk Brady was slightly uncoordinated and extremely enthusiastic, so it made it kind of funny.

After midnight most of the players were completely wasted and that included Brady and Quinn decided that it was time to head out and of course that meant shepherding Brady out of the bar when was harder than he would’ve thought.

They weren’t far from the hotel, so they just walked but of course Brady was stumbling and had his arms wrapped him.

“You’re so good for me Quinn,” Brady mumbled as they stepped into their room.

“Sure”

Of course, Brady wasn’t coordinated enough to undress so Quinn had to help him which was made worse as Brady didn’t want to let go of Quinn and keeps hugging him.

“Come on, Brady, let me go,”

Brady protested and instead collapsed on his bed dragging Quinn with them.

“Brady.”

“I want you with me.”

“I’ve got to change,” Quinn protested.

“Do you promise to come back?”

Quinn agreed so he was released and able to stand up. Brady was making pathetic noises the whole time that he was up, so he quickly stripped before lying back down again. Brady instantly curled himself around Quinn, so his face was buried in his neck.

Quinn liked having Brady so close to him, so it took him only a couple minutes to fall asleep.

******

Unsurprisingly Quinn woke before Brady the next morning. He couldn’t get out of bed without waking the forward and he didn’t want to wake him yet. Instead he just lay there for a while and was got stuck in his own thoughts.

He knew that sleeping with Brady helped his insomnia a lot. He noticed that ever since he got back into contact with him a year ago it helped because it was one less thing that he was worried about but having Brady wrapped around him calmed him down and he could usually fall asleep with him in minutes.

He was still deep in thought when he heard Brady groan from beside him.

“How fucking much did I drink last night?” he moaned.

“Nice headache then,” he teased.

“Shut up.”

Quinn just laughed and clambered out of bed. As Brady was still groaning, he headed for the bathroom. Brady eventually climbed out of bed and they moved around each other before heading down for food.

It was pretty clear that there were more than a few hungover players sitting around. Brady and Quinn joined Alex DeBrincat.

“Morning,” the small winger chirped, having clearly not having drunk much the night before.

Brady just groaned which just made the other two laugh. They kept conversation pretty light during breakfast as Brady didn’t want to talk too much. Just as they were about to leave Brady got call back by Stamkos which left Quinn heading upstairs with Alex.

“Do you want to come to my room for a bit and catch up?” Alex asked.

Quinn agreed since he hadn’t managed to talk much to him since the World Champs the year before last and wanted to let him know that he was doing much better. Alex’s roommate was gone so Quinn settled on the other bed and Alex sat down opposite him.

“How are you?” Alex asked.

“Much better. I got back in touch with Brady and I haven’t talked to my parents and Jack in a while,” Quinn explained.

This then got him to elaborate on what had happened in the last year and a half.

“So, your insomnia is better?” Alex asked.

“Yeah. Talking to a therapist helps a lot and my life is a lot less stressful without talking to my family helps more.”

“That’s good then. So, you feeling better then?”

“Yeah, getting back in contact with Brady helps a lot as well.”

“That cool. You guys are really close.”

“Yeah, we’ve spent a lot of time together before the draft and then since we got back in contact, we’ve spent quite a bit of time together so he’s really good for me.”

“And you like him.”

“Of course, he’s my best friend.”

“Nah, like you would like to date him.”

Quinn just stared at him which made Alex smirk at him.

“You aren’t subtle plus I’m bi as well, so I know,” Alex explained.

“Oh”

“And he really likes you too,” Alex continued.

“What?”

“Yeah, he’s eyes follow you when you are together. It’s cute.”

Quinn wasn’t sure how true that was, but the conversation moved on. Alex got called away after another half an hour and Quinn headed back to his own room. Brady wasn’t back yet, so he just collapsed on the bed and mucked around on his phone waiting for him to come back.

******

Both the skills challenge and the actual games were a lot of fun. The Pacific Division won, beating Brady and the Atlantic Division in the final. Johnny Gaudreau won the MVP, but it was a fun experience. Most of the players got drunk again afterwards and it was a good time.

When he woke the next morning, Brady didn’t wake when he crawled out from under his arm, so he headed down to breakfast by himself. Unsurprisingly there was basically no one else was there so he grabbed his food and settled by himself at a table.

He hadn’t been there for long when someone sat down opposite him and of course it was Jack. He was about to get up and leave but Jack got him to stay.

“How are you?” Jack asked.

“Good.”

“When are you going to stop separating our family and come home?”

“I told Mom what she had to do for me to talk to you again and she hasn’t done that,” Quinn explained.

“Come on, it’s not a big deal and now you are pulling Luke away as well.”

“It’s not a big deal for you because it wasn’t aimed at you. It was her tearing me down for absolutely everything I do.”

“Quinn, come on, we are family. They are just trying to help you,” Jack explained.

Quinn just stared at him in shock, took a deep breath and just laid into him.

“Well, her help means that I suffer from anxiety that causes my insomnia and maybe slight depression. You know the World Champs that we were both at, because of the shit that Mom was saying to me, I slept maybe two hours each night because I couldn’t fall asleep due to stress.”

“I couldn’t keep doing that. And then when Luke told me that Mom was starting to do the same thing, I wasn’t going to let the same thing happened to him,” Quinn explained.

“So, what, that’s still not a big deal,” Jack protested.

“It might not be to you, but I realised my mental health is far more important than anything else.”

“Come on, just try and fix it. I just want our family back.”

“Not until something changes and clearly Mom doesn’t see what she is doing wrong.”

Jack was clearly frustrated that Quinn wasn’t just agreeing with him and going to come back home. Quinn was upset that Jack clearly wasn’t going to try and understand his point and this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. They took a moment to each collect their thoughts and neither said anything.

“This isn’t going anywhere and it’s clear that neither of us are going to change our mind so let’s just end it there,” Quinn placated.

“You mean because you are a pathetic pussy and don’t know how to take advice,” Jack snapped.

For a second Quinn was in shock because it was the first time that Jack had really said anything like that to him. He didn’t know what to say in response and just sat there in shock.

“So, maybe our family is better without you, but stop pulling Luke away from the people that really love him,” Jack suggested.

After that comment Quinn couldn’t help the tears that leaked out and Jack just smirked at him.

“You wouldn’t want to get dehydrated from crying. Have some water”

Quinn couldn’t figure out what that means before he felt water being poured over his head. Of course, that attracted the attention of the couple of players in that were the room.

“Hey, guys, settle down,” Nathan MacKinnon called from behind him.

“It’s fine, I’m leaving,” Jack said and left the room.

The older centre then sat down beside Quinn and wrapped an arm around him.

“Are you alright?”

Quinn couldn’t find his words, so he just shook his head and the tears continued to flow and leant over so that his head was resting on his chest. MacKinnon clearly was a little shocked and unsure what to do but he stayed there and let him cry.

A few different players came over to check on him, but Quinn didn’t say anything, so MacKinnon told them that he had it under control.

That was way that Brady found them ten minutes later. As soon as he noticed Quinn he came rushing over and sat on Quinn’s other side. Quinn instantly moved so that he was hugging Brady instead but still didn’t say anything.

“What happened?” Brady asked.

“I’m not entirely sure but he was arguing with his brother and then Jack poured water on him and that’s where I came,” MacKinnon explained.

“Oh, Quinn, are you ok?” Brady asked.

Quinn just shook his head before burying it in his chest.

“Will he be ok?” MacKinnon asked.

“Yeah, he just has problems with his family.”

“Oh, ok, well I’m going to head out. Hopefully you feel better soon,” MacKinnon said, rubbing a hand on Quinn’s back once before disappearing.

“Do you want to head back up to the room?” Brady asked.

Quinn nodded but didn’t want to move. After a second Brady helped him up before shepherding him back to the room. He felt off so collapsed straight on the bed and pulled Brady down with him.

“Just tell me when you want to talk about it,” Brady told him.

Quinn nodded but he knew that it would be in a while. Unfortunately, his flight was in a couple of hours, so he eventually had to get up and pack. He still felt terrible and still hadn’t spoken at all and thankfully Brady wasn’t pushing him to talk.

Their flights out where at about the same time so they could head out together and it also meant that he caught up with Petey for the first time in a couple days as they seemed to have spent most of the time catching up with other people.

Brady explained to Petey that Quinn wasn’t feeling right and Petey just hugging him and smiled. Brady’s flight left first so they had to say goodbye. Quinn hugged him tightly and didn’t want him to leave.

“Call me when you want to. Look out for yourself,” Brady whispered.

Quinn nods and unfortunately then Brady had to leave. He and Petey had another half an hour before their own flight.

“How are you?” Petey asked.

“Terrible. Can you just talk about anything to me?” Quinn asked.

Petey agreed and launched into a story about what he had been up to the night before. Petey wasn’t usually talkative but he could tell that Quinn just wanted something to distract him, so he kept talking. The flight home wasn’t too bad and at last they were back in Vancouver.

“Is Mason going to be in your apartment?” Petey asked.

Quinn nodded and Petey smiled.

“Good, I think some company would be good for you tonight,” Petey said.

Quinn agreed. The drive back from the airport wasn’t long and soon enough Petey pulled up in front of his place.

“Are you going to be ok?” he asked.

“I will be.”

Petey offered him a slight smile and hug before he climbed out. Thankfully when he opened his apartment door Mason was already there and someone had clearly told him that Quinn wasn’t in a good mood, so he instantly got wrapped in a hug.

Mason didn’t ask him about and kept his attention on other things. By the time they went to bed he was feeling better but wasn’t surprised when he only managed to get a couple hours of sleep.

*******

After talking to Ava and explaining to Brady what had happened, he was feeling better. That was until their game in Detroit. Thankfully his parents weren’t coming to the game, but Luke was making the drive from college.

Quinn was busy all morning with practice and meetings so they couldn’t meet until after the game. The Canucks won 4-1 so the locker room was in a good mood. Quinn was making an effort to quickly shower and change and Virts noticed this.

“What’s the rush?” he asked.

“I’m meeting my brother for dinner.”

Virts just hummed and let him go. He found Luke waiting for him just inside the arena and instantly wrapped him in a hug.

“I’m hungry,” Luke told him.

“Fine, we’ll go and get food.”

Luke just laughed. He suggested a place nearby so that they could walk there and since it was late at night they got seated quickly.

“How’s college been?” Quinn asked.

Quinn had watched a few of their games and could see that he had been having a good season and they talked a lot, but it was different in person.

“It’s been really good,” Luke said before launching into a story about him and his roommate.

For a while they just caught up, but it was clear that Luke had something that he wanted to ask.

“Mom called me the other day,” Luke started.

“Shit, really, how bad was it?” Quinn asked.

“It wasn’t too bad as I was expecting after you told me what Jack said but it wasn’t exactly pleasant conversation.”

“Oh God, it’s gotten bad.”

“And then I was getting worried about the upcoming draft because I’m not sure if I want them there.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I think that they are just going to stress me out and after the last year or so I don’t want them there, but I don’t know if I can stop them being there.”

“Then I will call every person I need to that’s involved with the draft until they aren’t invited,” Quinn told him honestly.

“You’d do that.”

“Of course.”

“I might take you up on that. I’ll think about it.”

Quinn was so mad with the rest of his family so it would make his experience at Luke’s draft much more enjoyable so it wouldn’t be hurting him. He knew that it was going to cause a few rumours and gossip but at this point he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to let them hurt his little brother as much as they had to him.

They didn’t have long before Quinn had to head back to the hotel before curfew, but it was a great opportunity to catch up with Luke.

“Call me whenever,” Quinn told him before they separated.

“Of course, and you too.”

Quinn hugged him once more before Luke headed off towards his car and Quinn stepped into the hotel. Petey was already lying in bed so Quinn quickly stripped so he wasn’t annoying him too much.

“What were you up to?” the forward asked.

“I had dinner with my brother, Luke,” Quinn explained.

“Sounds like a fun time.”

Quinn nodded and smiled before climbing into bed and fell asleep after not too long later.

*******

Mason came back into the apartment in late February to yelling. He had only been gone less than an hour to grab groceries. He could hear Quinn’s voice and didn’t hear anyone else, so he guessed that he was on the phone.

His suspicions were confirmed when he rounded into the kitchen. Quinn was pacing back and forth in the kitchen. He nodded at Mason when he noticed him and moved slightly so that he could get into the fridge.

“Look, if this doesn’t happen then he won’t be at the draft and won’t be doing any publicity or interviews with the media,” Quinn threatened.

Whatever answer he got he clearly didn’t like because he sat down on one of the barstools and banged his head on the bench.

“No, don’t put me on hold again,” Quinn pleaded.

Clearly, he did because he flicked his phone onto speaker phone and there was a shitty song playing. Quinn looked drained and clearly this conversation wasn’t going well.

“What’s going on?” Mason asked.

“Trying to sort things out with the NHL but I’m on hold for the sixth time and they won’t do this through my agent, so I have to do it,” Quinn complained.

“How come they won’t do it with your agent?”

“Well, I’m kind of asking for a strange thing so they don’t know what to do which is why I’m always getting put on hold.”

“What are you asking for?”

“Luke is getting drafted this year and I’m trying to make sure that neither of our parents nor Jack are allowed to come to the draft.”

“Surely that wouldn’t be particularly hard,” Mason said.

“You would think but they won’t talk to my agent who is also Luke’s agent, and no one seems to be able to help me. I’ve had to make that threat about not being at the draft like three times and each time I get passed on to someone else.”

Mason was about to respond when someone asked for Mr Hughes on his phone.

“Yes,” Quinn said.

“So, from what I understand you are wanting your parents and Jack Hughes barred from being at the draft,” the man asked.

“Yes, as I have explained seven times now,” Quinn said shortly.

“I’m not sure that you realise how bad is this going to look when he isn’t there with his family and everyone else is.”

“But now bad would it be when one of the top prospects isn’t doing any media and isn’t at the draft?” Quinn asked.

The man on the other end didn’t seem to want to answer but hummed and didn’t say anything for few minutes.

“Fine, that could be organised, but I’ll have to talk to my boss.”

“And if they turn up at any point then Luke will be walking out without any discussion,” Quinn added.

The man didn’t seem keen on that but agreed and then hung up. Quinn then looked pretty nervous as it wasn’t resolved but hopefully sounded like it might be. He then pressed his head back on the bench.

Mason then grabbed his phone out and pulled up Tkachuk’s phone number. He had given it to him a couple of months ago just in case. It was a bit of a strange conversation, but it was clear that Tkachuk was just looking out for Quinn and told Mason to use it if he felt that Quinn needed someone to talk to.

_Quinn looks a little stressed and could probably like a call_

He got an instant message from the forward telling him that he would and thanks him for the heads up. Not even ten seconds later Quinn’s phone started ringing. The defenceman lifted his head and glanced at his phone before answering.

“Hey, Brady, how are you?” Quinn asked.

Mason didn’t really want to eavesdrop on the conversation and since he no longer had a reason to be in the kitchen, so he slipped out and into his own bedroom. He could hear the sounds of the conversation but not enough to understand it.

One day he was going ask Quinn what was going on with Tkachuk because all the guys in the locker room called him Quinn’s boyfriend, but he always denied. But Mason had seen them and heard them, and it was clear that they both loved the other.

He was pretty sure that at least Virts, Boes and probably a few of the others had a betting pool on when the pair would get their shit together, but Mason had avoided that.

He couldn’t help but notice that Quinn seemed to stay on phone for most of the afternoon and seemed to be in a better mood, so Mason counted that as a win.

*******

The Sens were in town a week later so Quinn disappeared to spend time with Tkachuk, so Mason made sure to leave their apartment just in case. This meant that he ended up in Boes’ lounge with him Troy and Virts playing video games.

“I’m guessing Quinn is with Tkachuk?” Boes asked.

“Of course.”

“When the fuck are they going to get their shit together?” Virts moaned.

“It’s not that bad,” Mason smiled.

“But you didn’t have to listen to Quinn when he got drunk and just talked about Brady for an hour,” Virts explained.

“When was this?”

“Early in the season. He doesn’t drink that much but the only time I have it was cute. It was funny for like five minutes but then I got sick of it, but I couldn’t leave.”

Mason could imagine Quinn doing exactly that. He was completely in love and it was kind of funny.

“So, when can we parent trap them?” Troy asked.

“Yes,” Virts cheered.

“No,” Mason said.

“Come on.”

“But I have to live with Quinn and if it goes wrong then I have to live with it,” Mason explained.

“But otherwise we have to deal with this,” Virts moaned.

Mason just laughed at Virts’ pain but they returned to playing their game. After while he headed out and probably should’ve checked with Quinn but luckily, he and Brady were just cuddling on the couch. Tkachuk was leaning against the armrest and Quinn was sitting between his legs and leaning against his chest.

“Hey, Mason, come join us,” Quinn called.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Mason settled down on one of the other seats and for a while the three of them talked mostly about hockey but sometimes the other two would slip into a side conversation about people that Mason didn’t know.

After a while Mason was starting to fall asleep but he noticed that Quinn already had. His face was buried in Brady’s chest and Brady was softly rubbing his hand up and down on his chest.

“You know that I have to give you a shovel talk,” Mason told him.

“Of course.”

“And if you hurt him then the whole team will have to hurt you.”

“I’d never hurt him.”

“I know, you’re in love with him.”

Brady glanced at over him and Mason just shrugged.

“It’s pretty obvious. You should tell him,” Mason told him.

“I couldn’t. I’d change this,” Brady protested.

“But what if it makes it better?”

“It wouldn’t. Quinn doesn’t like me like that.”

Mason just snorted but didn’t say anything.

“Anyway, I’m going to go to bed,” Mason said.

Brady nodded, picked Quinn up and carried him to his room. Mason couldn’t help but smile at it before heading into his own room.

******

The season was going well and towards the end of March they had pretty much booked their playoff spot. Mason had had a pretty good season, but Quinn had had an even better one. Their last game against the Ducks was dirty like usual but this time they were targeting Quinn.

There was only ten minutes left when one of the Ducks’ forward slammed Quinn straight into the boards. Quinn dropped to the ice and of course that started a shoving incident. At last Mason managed to make it to Quinn and slowly helped him up.

“How bad is it?” Mason asked him.

“It’s really hurts but I don’t know,” Quinn told him.

Once he got him to the bench, he stumbled off the ice and limped down the hallway. It was hard to finish off the game with a hurt teammate no longer in the game. They managed to close out the win before trouping into the locker room.

Quinn wasn’t in the locker room yet, but his pads and skates were sitting in his stall. He grabbed his phone out and was unsurprised when there was a message from Tkachuk.

_Message me when you know something_

Mason quickly showered and changed before heading to find Quinn. He was sitting in the trainer’s room with a brace already around his knee and a trainer talking to him.

“Can I take him home?” Mason asked.

“Yeah, he’s on painkillers but hopefully it isn’t major,” he was told.

“Anything else I should know?”

“No, that’s probably it. He should come in tomorrow so that we can reassess it.”

It took a minute to get Quinn on his feet and luckily, he was on enough painkillers that the walk to the car wasn’t too bad which was good as Mason didn’t think that he could carry Quinn.

“Brady wants you to call him,” Mason told once they started moving.

Quinn nodded so grabbed his phone out there and called Brady then and there.

“Quinn, how are you?” Brady asked instantly.

“It’s not that bad,” Quinn told him.

“Really, it looked really bad.”

“I’ll be back for the playoffs.”

“Is it a knee injury?”

“Yeah, knee sprain,” Quinn told him.

“Fuck, I’d literally just sat down and flicked your game on when you got injured.”

Quinn and Brady kept talking throughout the drive but moved on to other things. Mason could tell that Brady was still a bit shaken up from seeing Quinn get injured. By the time they got home Quinn was almost asleep as well, so it was difficult to get him out of the car carefully and inside.

After a few minutes he managed to get Quinn into bed and he instantly fell asleep.

“Hey, Mason, can you look after him?” Brady asked, making Mason jump.

“Of course.”

“I just can’t be there,” Brady whispered.

“I know, it’s hard when you’re in love,” Mason told him.

Brady didn’t protest, just sighed.

“I should let you go,” Brady told.

They hung up moments later and Mason headed for his own room. Every time that he saw or heard them together, he seriously questioned how they hadn’t gotten their shit together. It was obvious how in love with each other they were.

*******

Quinn managed to heal up in time for their last game of the season which they won. This time they were playing the Flames and despite being the 3 seed there were some people thinking that they would win.

Unfortunately for Brady the Sens were just terrible and finished last in the league. After checking with Mason, it was fine, Brady came to stay with him for a while. Of course, he no longer had a spare room, so he and Brady had to share but that was becoming normal at this point and he wasn’t complaining.

The weird thing happened during the first playoff game in Calgary. The game had paused after the puck had gone over the glass. Quinn was standing near the boards when Matty Tkachuk skated over to him.

“You know that I won’t go easy on you because you are fucking my brother,” Matty whispered.

“I’m not?”

“Well, then I won’t go easy on you because you guys are both pining ridiculously for each other.”

Quinn just stared at him which made Matty laughed.

“Oh, come on,” Matty laughed, “You guys are just pining for each other.”

Quinn didn’t get a chance to say anything because they were yelled at get into position. He knew Matty pretty well through spending a lot of time with Brady, but he still wasn’t expecting him to say that and he didn’t know what to say.

The game ended with a 2-1 win for the Canucks. The locker room was in a good mood afterwards and the win helped Quinn relax a bit. He was heading out of the arena with Petey and Virts when he ran into Matty.

“Are you and Brady seriously not dating?” Matty asked.

“No?”

“You guys are just pining ridiculously for each other?”

“Yes, they are,” Virts jumped in.

“Brady doesn’t like me like that,” Quinn protested.

“Brady does nothing but talk about you. Of course, he’s in love with,” Matty explained.

“No, he doesn’t”

“This is what it is like the whole time. Those two can’t get their shit together,” Virts told him.

Quinn was really confused as to where this conversation was going. There was no way that Brady liked him, and he had no idea what was going on.

“Fuck, this is killing me,” Matty complained.

He then got called away by one of his own teammates leaving him still confused.

“Come on Quinn, get you shit together,” Petey teased.

Quinn just shrugged and headed to the bus. Most people decided to head straight to bed once they got back to the hotel, so he headed with Petey to their room. Both of them were pretty exhausted from the game so they just moved around each other in silence before going to bed.

Quinn ended up lying in the dark thinking about the conversation that had happened after the game. There is no way that Brady would actually like him. They’re just friends and even though he was in love with Brady, nothing was going to change.

He was going to have to deal with and move it, but it was going take him a while.

******

The Canucks managed to beat the Flames before losing to the Coyotes. The last loss was heart-breaking but at least they were at home. His drive home with Mason was silent and as soon as he got home, he headed straight for bed.

Brady was already there, and once Quinn lay down Brady curled around him. He let himself let his emotions out and started to cry slightly. Brady didn’t say anything, instead just rubbing a hand on his back.

After a while he buried his face into Brady’s chest, all his tears run out.

“Do you want to sleep now or talk about something else for a while?” Brady asked.

“Can you just talk to me for a bit?”

Brady agreed and launched into a story about what some of his teammates had been up to since their season finished. Some of them had gotten up to some shit and usually they would make him laugh but he did crack a smile. Some of his teammates were over at Worlds and had also managed to get up to some shit over there including getting extremely lost which Quinn almost laughed about.

After a while Quinn could feel himself drifting off to sleep. Brady was still talking when he did at last manage to sleep and with Brady hugging him close, he felt safe.

When he woke the next morning, Brady was still asleep, but he could hear Mason moving around in the kitchen. After adjusting Brady’s arms slightly, he was able to sneak out without waking him up. He found Mason sitting at the bench slowly sipping at a mug.

“How are you feeling?” Quinn asked him, knowing that it was his first time being eliminated from the NHL playoffs.

“Still pretty upset. It’s hard but it’s just going to make me work harder over summer,” Mason shrugged.

“Got any plans for the summer?”

“Not really, probably head home in a couple of days and just go from there. What about you?”

“I’ve got Luke’s draft and then I’ll be back here training for the summer.”

“Someone like Luke can use my room over summer if you want?” Mason offered.

“Thanks, and you can stay here again next year if you want.”

“Yeah, I probably will. I like having someone else to live with. I find it nicer than living alone.”

“Same. After staying with billets and then having a roommate in college the year that I lived alone here was kind of weird.”

Mason laughed and they kept the conversation light and away from hockey. They still had locker cleanout which meant dealing with the media for the last time for the season, but they could deal with that later. The team was going to meet up at least once more before everyone went their separate ways which was always one of the saddest parts of the season.

They had been sitting there for a while when Brady came out and joined them. He sat down beside Quinn after grabbing a coffee and rested a hand on Quinn’s thigh.

“What about you Brady? What are your plans for the summer?”

“Not sure, Matty is going to Worlds so might go over for that but otherwise probably just go home to St Louis and train.”

They continued to talk for a while until Mason headed out to meet up with a couple of people for lunch leaving Quinn and Brady still sitting at the bench.

“How are you feeling today?” Brady asked him.

“Better. It still hurts a lot but yeah.”

“Of course. I’m here if you want to talk more.”

Quinn nodded and they spent the rest of the day lying together on the couch watching TV. Brady was stretched out against the back of the couch and Quinn was lying against his chest and it was a good way to spend the day after being eliminated.

*******

Brady stayed with him for another two weeks before flying over to Europe to spent time with his family at Worlds. Mason had headed home before that, so it had just been the two of them for a while. It made Quinn want to date Brady more, but it wasn’t going to happen.

He spent a bit of time training before heading to the draft. Luke was already there and when Quinn first met him, he looked pretty nervous. The night before the draft it was clear that Luke wasn’t going to fall asleep, so they sat down on Luke’s bed together.

“Am I doing the right thing by not having our parents here?” Luke asked.

“I can’t tell you that but if you don’t want to spend time with our parents then there is no difference here,” Quinn told him.

“Thanks, I think I am right. They didn’t bother to contact me for months after they did after your All-Star game. And then Mom called me last week and I knew it was going to be able to draft so I didn’t answer, and she didn’t call again. It’s like they don’t care,” Luke admitted.

“Then, I’m glad that they aren’t here.”

“Thanks for always being here for me.”

“Of course. Do you want to stay with me in Vancouver this summer again?”

“Definitely. It was fun training with you last summer.”

They stayed like that talking for hours. Quinn could tell that Luke was, rightfully, extremely nervous so Quinn kept him distracted until he fell asleep. He was then planning on moving back to his own bed but ended up falling asleep on Luke’s bed as well.

As soon as they were up the next morning there were cameras in their faces. For Quinn most of the day past in a blur and soon enough they were on the bus to the arena. Once there, Luke had one last media interview before the draft and then they got settled.

“You ready?” Quinn asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Luke said, his leg bouncing beside Quinn.

At last the draft started. Quinn knew from his own experience that the time before getting you name called in the longest time ever. He put his hand on Luke’s leg and left it there for a while. The first two picks got called and then the Sens stepped up onto the stage.

“From the University of Michigan, we are proud to select Luke Hughes.”

As he stood up to hug his brother, he knew that the commentators were going to be talking about the lack of family, but he was too happy. He happily cheered watching him get to pull the jersey on over his head before getting swept back for media interviews and photos.

He had only been there a couple of minutes when his phone started vibrating. Most of the texts could be ignored for a while but opened the one from Brady.

_So, we get the best Hughes then._

It made Quinn chuckle. He had a while before he would be able to see Luke, so he just scrolled through his phone and clapped for the rest of the people getting drafted. After a while Brady sent him another message and it was a link to a tweet.

It opened to a video, so he put a headphone in before playing it. It was a video of Luke, clearly in the middle of his media interview, with Sens Jersey and hat on.

“How come you had no other family except Quinn here?” someone asked.

“I had all the family that I needed and wanted here,” Luke said simply.

The video then finished, and Quinn had to blink back a tear. To hear Luke say that made Quinn feel so loved. Soon enough he was allowed out of his seat and back to meet up with his brother again. Soon enough he found him with a few different guys he knew from the program.

“Congratulations,” Quinn told him.

Luke jumped straight into his arms and Quinn managed to catch him despite the fact that Luke had a couple of inches and pounds on him. It was extremely awkward, but he managed to hold him lie that for a minute before having to put him down.

“Thanks for being here,” Luke smiled.

“Of course.”

The rest of the evening was a rush of people. By the time that they made it back to the room they were both exhausted. Luke had plenty of requests to go out with the guys, so Quinn pushed him out of the room and told him to have fun.

This time when he grabbed his phone out, he had messages from his family. He thought about looking at them but decided it wasn’t worth the pain so just deleted them without looking at them. Today was about Luke and nothing that his parents could say where going to ruin that.

*******

Luke had to head to Ottawa for development camp leaving Quinn alone in his apartment for the first time in ages. Of course, this was when Brady decided to invite himself up to visit which Quinn wasn’t complaining about.

Brady told him that he was arriving really early so could just drive himself from the airport. He was barely aware of Brady coming in, curled up beside Quinn and Quinn fell straight back to sleep again. He woke a few hours later to Brady still beside him but was awake.

“It’s good to see you again,” Quinn smiled.

“Yeah, how are you?” Brady asked.

“Good, training with Luke a bit and not much else. How about you?”

“Had a nice trip with my family in Europe and then had a good time with them at home.”

Quinn hummed and they just lay there for a while. Brady was slowly scrolling through Instagram, so Quinn rested his head on Brady’s chest and commented occasionally on what was coming up. After a while they thought about getting up, but they were pretty comfortable.

“Is there anything that you want to do today?” Quinn asked.

“Can we go back to the beach again?” Brady asked.

Quinn was a little surprised with that answer as he wasn’t expecting it but agreed. They did climb out of bed eventually and soon enough they headed out of the beach. There were a few people there, but they dumped their stuff on the sand.

Of course, Brady decided to pick Quinn up, tossed him over his shoulder and walked towards the water. Quinn knew that there was no point trying to get him to put him down because he knew that he was going to get dumped in the water and seconds later he was.

“Fuck you, Brady,” Quinn cursed.

Brady was just laughing at him, so Quinn got his revenge and tackled him into the water. The water was a nice temperature, so they were able to muck around in the water for an hour. Quinn was starting tire, so he just lay back into the water and floated there for a while.

He could hear Brady beside him, but he just kept his eyes shut and relaxed for a while. He was surprised that Brady had suggested coming here but he was glad that he had. It was a nice to relax and just forget about everything else for a while.

When he stood up, he had floated away slightly but Brady had moved out of the water and was sitting down on the beach instead. Feeling that his fingers were quite pruned he decided that he should get out and join the forward.

Brady smiled when he walked up the beach to join him, so Quinn sat down right beside him and rest his head on his shoulder.

“This was a really good idea,” Quinn told him.

“Thanks.”

“How come you wanted to come?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a really nice place and I like it out here.”

Quinn smiled but noticed that Brady looked slightly nervous. His fingers were drumming on his thigh, so Quinn moved his hand on that it was resting on top of Brady’s.

“You seem nervous. Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“Not here, maybe later.”

Quinn agreed so they just talked about other things. He wasn’t going to push Brady to talk about it now, especially while in public, so he just let it go. The sun was really nice and after a while he found himself drifting off to sleep.

He woke sometime later. His head had fallen into Brady’s lap and the forward was running his fingers through his hair. It was pretty comfortable so he didn’t really want to move but Brady must have noticed that he had woken up.

“We should probably move else you are going to burn.”

Quinn hummed but didn’t want to move.

“Come on, Quinn. We should head inside.”

He nodded and slowly pulled himself up of the ground. He was still feeling slightly tired and not quite awake yet, so Brady wrapped an arm around him, and they headed up off the beach. Brady offered to drive so Quinn slumped into the passenger’s seat and dozed during the trip home.

They spent the rest of the day mostly lazing around. Quinn could tell that Brady was still kind of nervous, but he still didn’t want to talk about it, so Quinn didn’t ask. They ate dinner on the couch and afterwards Brady turned to Quinn.

“I want to tell you something, but I don’t want it to change our friendship,” Brady said.

“Of course, it won’t,” Quinn assured him.

“Matt told me that I should tell you because I’m being stupid. I really like you and I know that you won’t feel the same way about me, but I have to tell you,” Brady blurted.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m just going to go to the bedroom. Just forget about it,” Brady said, standing up and was about to leave when Quinn grabbed his wrist.

“You didn’t let me answer,” Quinn told him.

“I know what you are going to say.”

“I don’t think you do. I really do like you.”

“What?”

“Yeah, of course I do,” Quinn smiled.

Quinn pulled Brady’s arm slightly and the forward sat down beside him. Once he was settled Quinn moved so that he was sitting in his lap. He had thought about it for years now he was able to kiss Brady.

They sat there for a while making out lazily for deciding that they should probably discuss where this was going.

“Do we want to do this?” Brady asked.

“Of course. I’ve wanted this for years,” Quinn told me.

“Same, I think that this is why Matty told me that I was being stupid and should just tell me.”

“Yeah, can I call you my boyfriend then?”

“Of course. My family will want to meet you though,” Brady told me.

“Your family loves me,” Quinn smiled.

“Mmm, yeah, you don’t mind the distance though?”

“No, of course not, we’ve been talking with the distance for ages now, so it won’t be too bad.”

Brady nodded. Quinn was very comfortable sitting in his lap, so he just rested his head on Brady’s shoulder, and they spent the rest of the evening sitting like that and it was the best time that he had had in ages.

Eventually they decided to go to bed which unfortunately meant that Quinn had to get up Brady’s lap. They moved around each other before collapsing on the bed together. Brady manoeuvred Quinn around so that Brady was spooning up against him.

“How long have you liked me for?” Brady asked.

“I don’t know, a couple of years maybe,” Quinn admitted.

“God, we honestly could have done with a while ago then. I’ve had a crush on you for a while,” Brady laughed.

Quinn couldn’t help but also be amused as well before falling asleep easily.

*******

By the time Luke came back from camp Quinn and Brady had talked more about their relationship. When his younger brother returned, he barged into the apartment and found Quinn and Brady curled up together on the couch.

“Did you guys finally managed to get your shit together?” Luke asked.

“What?” Quinn asked, shocked that he picked up on it instantly.

“You guys are actually dating, right?” he asked again.

“Yeah, we are.”

Luke smiled bright and cheered, “Finally, you guys figured out you were just pining for each other.”

Quinn just shrugged but Brady laughed at his enthusiasm.

“But I will hurt you Tkachuk if you hurt Quinn,” Luke threated which quickly shut Brady up.

Luke dumped his stuff into his room before joining them on the couch.

“So, how was camp?” Quinn asked.

Luke launched into a story about camp and it was clear that he had had a good time. It was nice to have Luke back and nicely Brady offered to go pick up dinner to allow the brothers to catch up.

“You and Brady are good together,” Luke told him.

“Really?”

“Yeah, he’s good for you and always looking at you.”

Quinn smiled and Luke moved into the seat Brady had vacated so they could hug.

“He also makes you smile a lot and relax. He brings the best out of you and after seeing you stressed with the situation without family seeing you smile with him is good,” Luke continued.

Quinn blinked back a couple of tears and hugged Luke tighter. He hadn’t thought about it really, but he did know that Brady helped calm his insomnia. It was nice for Luke to confirm that for him. He hadn’t really realised how much Brady helped him relax but it was true.

“Thank you for looking out for me,” Quinn told him.

“You’re welcome. Did you ever tell our family about your sexuality?” Luke asked.

“I told Jack in the same abstract way I told you. You picked up on, but I don’t think that he realised. By the time I was old enough to think about telling our parents we were arguing so I wasn’t going to tell them.”

“Do you ever wonder how they would’ve taken it?” Luke asked.

“I honestly believe that if Jack and I were both gay, they would be fine with Jack but not with me,” Quinn laughed.

That made Luke crack up laughing, “Yeah, that sounds pretty likely.”

“Yeah.”

“What about Brady’s family?”

“They’re cool with it. I’m going to go visit them at some point soon, so I’d be leaving you alone here.”

“That’s cool. His family always really liked you so I’m sure that’ll be a fun time,” Luke smiled.

“Yeah.”

“While I’ve got you there was something I wanted to ask,” Luke said.

“What?”

“The Sens asked me about maybe signing my contract as they were really happy with my play but of course that means not going back to Michigan.”

“What are your thoughts currently?”

“I’m not sure. Obviously, the dream is to play in the league, but I’m just worried I’m not ready for it and worried it will go wrong,” Luke admitted.

“If they think that you are ready for it then you probably are, and I think you are. Talk to Brady about it as he was in the same situation so he might be able to help you more.”

“Ok”

They talked about other topics, mostly catching up, while they waited for Brady to come back. It seemed to be taking a while, but Quinn didn’t mind catching up with Luke even more. At last the door opened, Brady dumped the food on the table and collapsed on Quinn’s lap.

“You guys should be proud of me for suffering through that experience,” Brady complained.

“What happened?” Quinn asked

“There were just people everywhere and I don’t know how I survived.”

“Oh, poor baby,” Quinn teased.

Brady pouted at him which just made Quinn laugh. They divided up the food and started eating. They kept the conversation pretty light as they ate so Quinn offered to clean up the dishes giving Luke and Brady a chance to talk.

Obviously since they only had a couple of dishes so once he was done, he stayed in the kitchen. He sat down at the bench and just mucked around on his phone. After ten minutes he was joined by the other two and Quinn couldn’t help but noticed that Luke looked a little lighter.

“What are you thinking?” Quinn asked.

“I going to sign, I think,” Luke smiled.

“Congrats, then.”

Quinn moved around to hug his brother.

“I’ll look forward to beating both you then,” Quinn teased.

“I think you’ve got that the wrong way around,” Brady corrected.

“I don’t think so.”

*******

Quinn felt weird heading to visit Brady’s family. He had met them a million times before, but it was different now that he was dating Brady. Brady had told him that his family knew about their relationship and were happy about it, but he was still nervous about it.

Brady was napping beside him, head resting on Quinn’s shoulder, so Quinn had to be careful not to wake him as they had to get up early to make their flight. The flight wasn’t too bad and just as they were starting to descent, he shook Brady awake.

“No,” Brady moaned.

“Come on, we are about to land,” Quinn told him.

“No, I want to sleep.”

Quinn just kept poking Brady in the ribs until he just gave up sleeping and managed to stay awake through landing and off the plane. Since Quinn wasn’t going to be staying a super long time neither of them had checked in bags so they could head straight out of the airport.

Brady directed him through out of the building and they found Matty circling in his car.

“Hey guys, it’s good to see you Quinn,” Matty smiled and pulled out of the airport.

“You too,” Quinn smiled.

“Hey, it’s good to see you too, brother,” Brady smirked.

“Nah, I think I like Quinn more.”

Brady pouted at his brother and if they hadn’t been in a car, it probably would’ve started a wrestling match. The drive wasn’t long, but Quinn could feel his eyes closing slightly. He half-listened to Brady and Matty catch up but he mostly just dozed there.

Being a Sunday when he got out of the car, he was immediately hugged Chantal.

“Quinn, it’s so good to see you again,” she smiled.

“You too.”

They moved inside and when Brady moved to dump their bags in his room Keith turned to him.

“So, you and Brady finally got your shit together then?”

“Yeah, we did,” Quinn smiled.

“Good, we always thought you would be good together.”

Quinn smiled more and when Brady came back into the room, he immediately moved to stand next to Quinn, so he rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder.

“It’s nice to see you for once,” Chantal teased Brady.

“Hahaha.”

“Do you two boys want something to eat?”

“Always.”

As always there was already food ready, so they moved to it at the table. Brady pushed Quinn towards a seat so that Brady could sit down beside him, and their legs were up against each other.

Quinn had spent a lot of time around the Tkachuks, so it was just like many times before. He hadn’t seen them in a while, so they made sure to catch up with Quinn as much as possible while also asking about how he got with together with Brady.

The hard part was that it made his heart hurt. It was the closest to a family meal he had had in ages which upset him slightly. He wasn’t sure if Brady noticed but he moved his hand onto Quinn’s thigh, and he was slowly rubbing it up and down which helped calm him down.

Matty headed out after a while to go do something else leaving them sitting at the table with the Tkachuk parents.

“We trust that you two are adults and will make sensible decisions together and we trust you,” Keith started.

“And if you want to stay in Vancouver more, Brady, we won’t be too upset,” Chantel continued.

“Honestly?”

“Yeah, honestly we were expecting you two to get together earlier so already expecting it.”

Quinn laughed because it seemed like everyone was expecting them to get together earlier. He was about to say something but just yawned instead, ready for a nap.

“Go take a nap,” Keith told him.

Quinn was going to protest but he yawned together so he let Brady bully him out of the room then into Brady’s room. He had been in it heaps of times before, so he didn’t bother to look around before collapsing on the bed. He kicked his shoes off before reaching his arms up for Brady.

“Come join me,” Quinn told Brady.

Brady agreed so curled up around him and he was content to take a nap.

*******

Keith dragged Brady out to do something in the afternoon leaving Quinn with Chantal. She was cooking in the kitchen, so Quinn offered to help but was told to just sit down.

“How are you?” she asked.

“Getting there. Healed from the end of the season and getting back into training,” he said.

“You staying in Vancouver?”

“Yeah, I’ve got an apartment so Luke’s staying with me over summer so that’s nice.”

“How come he is staying with you?” she asked.

“Neither of us are talking to the rest of our family but particularly our Mom.”

“I could believe that that would happen. She was always more interested in Jack.”

“Yeah, well it came to a head so neither of us are talking to her.”

“Well, then you are always welcome here.”

Quinn smiled slightly but he didn’t really want to talk about it.

“You and Brady are good together,” Chantal said, clearly noticing Quinn didn’t want to talk about it.

“Yeah, he’s really good for me,” Quinn said.

“Even before you started dating it was clear that you were good for each other. He brings you out of your shell and you calm him down a bit,” she explained.

“Yeah, he calms me down as well.”

She smiled before offering him a biscuit that she had just finished. He happily took one and the two of them then spent the rest of the afternoon catching up even more. They were in the middle of discussing good recipes when he heard the door open. A couple of moments later Brady came up behind him and pressed a kiss to the side of Quinn’s neck.

“How was your afternoon?” Quinn asked.

“Not bad. Had to spend the whole time running after Dad,” he laughed.

Quinn laughed before Chantal turned to her son.

“Well, get out there. I want to keep talking to my future son-in-law.”

Quinn blushed bright red and he was pretty sure Brady did as well because he started spluttering behind him before leaving.

“Just seeing you together makes me smile,” she then told him.

He didn’t think it was possible, but he blushed even more. She then changed the subject back to the food they were discussing and after a couple of minutes his cheeks faded in colour.

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed quickly and soon enough the five of them were sitting in the lounge after dinner. Quinn was curled up on Brady’s lap and was dozing with his head resting on Brady’s shoulder. It was extremely comfortable with his boyfriend’s arms wrapped loosely around him and he couldn’t imagine being happier anywhere else.

After a while he was pretty sure that everyone else thought he was asleep as he hadn’t been addressed in ages.

“It’s so good to see you and Quinn together after how long you have liked him,” Matt said to Brady.

“Honestly, I can’t quite believe it yet,” Brady admitted.

“Well, you look at him like you would do anything for him.”

“Of course, I would. I love him.”

If Quinn wasn’t pretending to be asleep, he would’ve told him that he loved him too, but he didn’t want to shock him.

“How long have you loved him for?” Chantel asked.

“I don’t know exactly, years. I thought for years that he wasn’t interested in me and I tried to get over it and stopped talking to him as much. But then I dropped contact without meaning too and it hurt him a lot. But then I was in Vancouver with him and we started talking again. Of course, I was still in love with him and eventually we got together,” Brady explained.

It was interesting to hear Brady’s side of the story a bit more and it made it make more sense to Quinn.

“I mean, I couldn’t imagine dating anyone else.” Brady’s hand then moved up, so it was slowly stroking his back.

The conversation moved on and Quinn ended falling asleep. He didn’t wake until he felt Brady adjust under him. His hands moved to back around Quinn’s waist again before standing up. Honestly Quinn wanted to swoon, but he didn’t want Brady to put him down, so he stayed still. After a few steps he got softly placed on the bed and fell back asleep again in seconds feeling extremely loved.

*******

He woke the next morning while Brady was still asleep. He didn’t want to get up yet so just curled back up against Brady and fell back asleep again. When he woke a second time Brady had disappeared, but he could hear voices in the kitchen, so he grabbed a shirt and headed down to find his boyfriend.

“Nice shirt,” Matty teased.

That when Quinn looked down and noticed the Senators’ logo on it, but he liked wearing Brady’s slightly too big shirts, so he just smiled. He always liked the way that Brady was staring at it.

“What are we doing today?” Quinn asked sitting down.

“I’m meeting friends so I’m out all day,” Matty said.

“I don’t think that we have any plans,” Brady started.

Quinn hummed before reaching for the coffee that his boyfriend offered him.

“Do you want to go out on a date then?” Brady continued.

Quinn smiled brightly at him, so Brady nodded. The three of them moved around the kitchen until Matty headed out.

“Where are we going?” Quinn asked.

“I’m not sure. Anything you want to do?”

“I don’t really know the area so you can pick.”

They ate, showered and changed before heading out but Quinn was still wearing Brady’s shirt because he liked the looks that Brady was giving him. Brady was driving and they ended up at the zoo. With it being a weekday, it was pretty empty, so they managed to quickly get in.

Brady grabbed a map of the zoo, but Quinn was just happy to just go with the flow. He grabbed Brady’s hand and followed him. They first ended up in looking at the bears and arrived just in time to see them getting fed.

“Do you think that I could get in and cuddle with them?” Brady asked quietly.

“Just jump over the wall,” Quinn smirked.

  
“They just look so fuzzy,” Brady cooed.

Quinn honestly thought he was going to have to hold Brady back from actually jump the wall, but they moved on to look at other animals. The day was pleasant but by lunch he was pretty hot and sweaty. They grabbed food before settling at a small table in the corner.

“This was a good idea,” Quinn told Brady.

“Yeah, I haven’t been in here for ages.”

“I thought that I was going to have to stop you from jumping the fence to hug the animals,” Quinn teased.

“They just look so cuddly,” he cooed.

Quinn just had to laugh at his boyfriend.

“Should’ve become a zoo-keeper then,” Quinn told him.

“I’ve definitely thought about it when I was a kid. It would be so cool.”

After finishing eating, they continued through the zoo before ending up at the penguins. Penguins were one of Quinn’s favourite animals, so he had a bright smile on his face. The zookeepers were feeding them as well, so they got to see two penguins fighting over a fish.

“Looks like you and Brady,” Quinn teased.

“Hahaha”

They watched as the last fish was thrown into the pool and a couple of penguins dived in after it. As the zookeepers tried to leave, one of the penguins was trying to block their path and another was trying to escape.

After wandering around for a few more hours they were both exhausted and had seen just about every animal in the zoo. Quinn was pretty tired, so he was happy to cling close to Brady and let his boyfriend lead him out.

“This was awesome,” Quinn told him once they got to the car.

“Yeah, it was fun.”

“Thanks for the date.” He kissed Brady just before they pulled out of the parking lot.

“It was nice to take you out.”

*******

The rest of summer seemed to disappear. Soon enough Brady and Luke were both back in Ottawa and most of the Canucks were back in the city. Mason decided that he did want to continue to live with Quinn and he was more than happy to have someone living with him.

The first day at camp was always exciting. Like normal Virts was the first and loudest that he ran into and loudly told him about his summer as they headed to the locker room. It was awesome to be back on the ice with the team and with all the players here for training camp it was very loud.

Once they were finished on the ice and changed a lot of the guys headed out for lunch at their usual place. Quinn ended up surrounded by Bo, Boes and Virts at one end of the table and they immediately started catching up.

“How was your summer?” Virts asked.

“It was good. Mostly trained with Luke and Brady here in Vancouver but travelled to St Louis for a couple of weeks,” Quinn explained.

“What were you doing in St Louis?” Boes teased.

“I was there with Brady visiting him family,” Quinn admitted.

“And why was that?” Virts smirked.

“I may or may not have started dating Brady over summer.”

Virts whooped loudly causing the rest of the table to stop talking and looking at them. Quinn buried his now red face in his hands.

“I knew it. I fucking knew it,” the winger cheered.

“Who won the bet?” Mason asked.

“What bet?” Quinn asked.

No one answered for a second as Bo started scrolling through his phone.

“Marky,” Bo called.

The goaltender stood up, bowed once before sitting back down.

“What bet?” he repeated.

“When you and Tkachuk were going to get your shit together,” Boes explained.

Quinn felt a bit embarrassed but could see the amusing side of it.

“Good for you guys. You look good together,” Bo told him.

“Thanks.”

“So, you had a good summer then?” Virts asked once the attention has moved on from them.

“Yeah, it was great,” Quinn smiled slightly.

Luckily, they then moved on to other topics and slowly the colour left Quinn’s cheeks. It was nice to catch up with everyone. Boes had also started dating someone new over summer so that was also a hot topic of lunch.

Quinn felt good after lunch and as a few of them were heading out Bo pulled him aside.

“Tkachuk knows that if he hurts you, you have a whole team that will hurt him,” Bo told him.

“Thanks, I think.”

“You’re welcome. We want to meet him next time he’s in town as well.”

“You already have,” Quinn protested.

“But not as your boyfriend.”

Quinn blushed again which just made Bo laugh.

“Got to make sure that he is still treating you right,” the older player said before leaving to talk to Petey.

It was nice to have his team looking out for him even if it was slightly embarrassing. He was so deep in thought about it that he didn’t notice Mason come up beside him.

“I hope that you and Brady didn’t have sex in my room while I was gone,” he asked making Quinn jump.

“We might’ve,” Quinn lied.

Mason whacked him in the chest but also seemed to know that Quinn wasn’t telling the truth. In all honesty it was Luke’s room over summer so of course they didn’t but Mason didn’t need to know that.

He and Mason headed out together and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up. Mason had spent his summer at home so got the opportunity to catch up with a lot of the guys he had grown up with. It meant that he had gotten up to some shit.

After the first day of camp both of them were pretty tired so headed to bed relatively early. When Quinn climbed into bed it felt large and empty. After having Brady sharing the bed with him all summer sleeping alone felt strange.

The first night that Brady left his insomnia came back for the first time in a while. It had taken him a very long time to fall asleep without his boyfriend’s arms around him. After sleeping alone for almost a week now he was kind of used to it, but he did want his boyfriend not to be so far away.

*******

Long-distance dating Brady was a bit different. The time difference was still frustrating, but their teams travelled enough that they were in the same or closer time zones a bit. They spent a lot of time sending messages back and forth and, on the phone, when they both had time. Quinn quickly found that easiest and fastest way for him to fall asleep was with Brady on the phone but that couldn’t happen often.

He talked to Ava about it in his therapy sessions about it. She gave him some new techniques for falling asleep and they helped as well. Soon enough the season was quickly move on and the Canucks started their long trip through the East.

One of their early games of the trip was against the Sens. Luke was still up with the team and was staying with Brady so he got to catch up with both of them in person.

“Do we still have the best Hughes brother?” Virts teased.

“Of course.”

“And got to give him bragging rights over his boyfriend as well,” Bo chirped.

“Got anything riding on the game?” Marky asked.

“Nah,” Quinn said.

“I think that means it isn’t anything that he wants to tell us,” Virts yelled.

Quinn blushed bright red, but he was telling the truth. It wasn’t something that they had discussed and honestly, they didn’t have enough time together for a bet to really be worth it either. He then busied himself in pulling his gear on so that the conversation would move on.

It was weird seeing Luke on the other side of the ice. He had got used to play against Brady but because of the age difference he hadn’t played against Luke much. After warming up he gravitated towards centre ice where Luke was.

“Good to see you here,” Quinn smiled.

“I honestly can’t believe they still want me up,” Luke admitted.

A media rep from the Sens called them over for a photo and Quinn was more than happy to wrap an arm around his brother for a photo. They didn’t get much longer to catch up before being called over to their respective team.

“I hope you lose,” Quinn called over his shoulder.

“I think that’s going to be you,” Luke retorted.

In the end the Canucks won the game 4-2 with Quinn having one of the goals and Brady scoring one for the Sens. The locker room was loud after the game and Quinn had a bright smile on his own face. He was, however, in a rush to get out as he had got permission to stay with Brady for the night as long as he was at the hotel in time for the bus the next morning.

“See you tomorrow then,” Boes smirked.

Quinn just smiled which made the rest of the locker room smiled.

“Have fun,” Virts chirped.

Quinn just nodded, smirked and headed out of the room.

“Use protection,” someone called after him, probably Virts.

He found Brady and Luke waiting just down the hallway. Brady pulled him into tight hug that lifted Quinn up off the ground. He then wrapped his legs around Brady’s waist so that his boyfriend then had to carry him towards the car.

“You looked really hot out there,” Brady whispered.

Quinn blushed slightly and buried his face in Brady’s neck.

“And that goal. That was so good,” he continued.

Quinn ended up getting placed in the backseat of Brady’s car and they drove out of the parking lot. It wasn’t a long drive and soon enough they were out of the car and into the house. Luke quickly disappeared into what Quinn presumed was his room. He was either tired or leaving Quinn and Brady alone.

“Do you just want to head to bed?” Brady asked.

Quinn nodded because honestly what he wanted was to curl up with Brady again. He was directed towards the bathroom and then the bedroom. Quinn happily grabbed one of Brady’s old USA shirts that was lying around and pulled that on. It smelt like Brady which made him relax.

Once Brady was finished in the bathroom he curled up beside Quinn. Neither of them were ready to sleep yet so took the opportunity to catch up in person. It was much nicer than talking on the phone especially since Brady was slowly running his fingers through his hair.

“Do you wish that we could play together again?” Quinn asked.

“Of course. All the time.”

“I’d love to have you come and play in Vancouver with me.”

“Or you could stay here. Just not leave with your team tomorrow.”

Quinn laughed and moved even more into Brady’s arms.

“As much as I wish that we could be together you are worth any amount of distance. I would date you even if you lived on the opposite side of the world.”

“That’s amazing to hear. I think the same thing,” Quinn told him.

Quinn ended up falling asleep not long later and when he woke Brady was still asleep. He was starving so crawled out of his grasp and stumbled towards the kitchen. Luke was still asleep, so he started opening all the cupboards in search of food and cooking utensils.

By the time either of the forwards appeared he was mostly finished with eggs and was in the processing of toasting the bread.

“Morning,” Luke muttered before sitting down.

As Quinn finished cooking, they caught up on how Luke was finding the season. It was very different to how Quinn found it in his first season since he had come from college and only played five games.

“I keep thinking that they are going to send me down, but Coach keeps telling me he likes me,” Luke admitted.

“You’ve been playing really well from the stuff that I’ve seen. You definitely deserve to still be up.”

“Thanks.”

As he was serving Luke, Brady stumbled in. Quinn offered him a plate, but he didn’t take it. Instead he moved to the coffee machine and started that. It was clearly that he really wasn’t really awake yet, so Quinn just let him be.

“This is really nice thanks,” Luke smiled.

Quinn didn’t have that long to hang around so once they were finished eating, he had to head out. It was sad to have to say goodbye to the pair of them. He hugged them both tightly before he left. Brady offered to drive him to the hotel, so he said goodbye to Luke again before leaving.

“It was so good to see you again,” Quinn told him.

“Yeah, it’s a shame that you couldn’t stay longer,” Luke said.

“Then come play in Vancouver.”

Luke laughed but Quinn really had to leave. The drive to the hotel was pretty quiet and soon enough Brady pulled up in front of the building.

“Fuck, I don’t want to let you go,” Brady pouted.

“Neither.”

After sitting there for a moment there was no way that they couldn’t put it off any longer. He hugged and kissed Brady once more before forcing himself to open the door and step out of the car.

“I’ll see you later,” Quinn smiled.

Brady nodded and Quinn stood there as he drove away. After collecting his thoughts for a moment, he stepped into the hotel lobby to find a few of his teammates already waiting. None of them said anything for a moment as Bo wrapped an arm around him.

“It’s always hard leaving love ones behind,” Bo said.

Quinn nodded, not trusting himself to speak for a second, “It’s just hard because I don’t really get to see him during the season and to only really have a couple of hours with him is hard.”

“I couldn’t even imagine that. Just remember that you can always come talk to any one of us if you need to.”

Quinn hummed in agreement but didn’t say anything else. More teammates trailed down from their rooms and soon enough they were on the bus heading for the airport. Quinn wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, so he put headphones in and curled up in a window seat.

They moved from the bus to the plane, but he stayed pressed up against the window. Petey sat down next to him but luckily, he didn’t talk to Quinn at all. He wished that they were head home to Vancouver but of course they weren’t.

He just wanted to stay curled up with Brady but of course that couldn’t happen either.

******

To make the road trip the worse one of the games was against Jack and the Devils. Jack was clearly trying to catch Quinn’s attention, but Quinn was purposely ignoring him. He was still feeling off from having to leave Brady and definitely didn’t want to deal with that.

The game was alright. Neither Hughes brother had a point, but the Canucks won 3-2. The team was staying in New Jersey tonight so Quinn had a bit of time to shower and change. Unfortunately, when he stepped out of the locker room he almost walked straight into Jack.

“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked.

“I just want to talk to you,” Jack said.

Quinn almost walked away from him but at the last second, he didn’t. Instead he pushed Jack a few steps backwards so that they were out of the way of his teammates.

“What do you want?” Quinn asked.

“Mom and Dad are here and want to talk,” he said.

“And why would I want to do that?”

“Because Mom is really upset that we haven’t seen you or Luke in ages and wants to resolve it.”

Quinn paused for a moment unsure. He was already feeling shitty and didn’t want to feel worse, but he did want to resolve this big mess with his family.

“Fine, but I’ve got to clear it with my Coach, and I make still walk out at any time,” Quinn told him.

Jack smiled brightly at that before letting him go. Coach instantly cleared it and told him to make sure he was back at the hotel at a sensible time. As they headed out Jack told him that their parents were already back at his apartment so they would be headed there. It wasn’t the worst thing as it meant that the conversation would happen in private.

Quinn was pretty nervous and all too soon they pulled up and headed up. Mom and Dad were seated at the table, so Quinn and Jack sat down opposite them.

“It’s so good to see you again Quinn,” Mom smiled.

“It’s been a while.”

“Almost two years I think,” Jack said.

“How have you been?” Mom asked.

“I’ve been good.”

The conversation awkwardly stalled as none of them were sure how to start the upcoming conversation. Quinn didn’t want to start as he wanted to hear their side first.

“So, do you want to explain your side of what happened again?” Dad said.

“I found that the only time that I was with you guys I was either getting ignored or told that I was shit and not as good as Jack. My mental health was suffering. I was barely sleeping because of insomnia and really suffering so I couldn’t do it anymore. It wasn’t worth it for me. And in the last two years I’ve been feeling so much better about myself,” Quinn explained.

“And why did you drag Luke away though?”

“I didn’t. He felt that you were doing the same thing to him, so I just gave him a place to escape to and he took me up on it.”

“Ok, I understand that I think but couldn’t you have still stayed with us and figured that out while still with us,” Dad asked.

“Because you guys were the ones causing the issues. I couldn’t stay with you guys because that would have made it worse.”

“But I still don’t get why it worth tearing our family apart though,” Mom complained.

“Because I was almost at the point of considering of quitting hockey and leaving the country,” Quinn admitted.

Everyone else at the table paused for a second but Mom seemed less concerned.

“I just don’t get it. Like I know that Jack is my favourite child but why does that affect you?” she asked.

“Because you just continued to shove it down my throat about how much better he is and that I’m not as good and that hurts.”

“But he is better. I’m just telling the truth.”

Quinn stared at her for a second before tears welled in his eyes.

“And that’s why I left. Because I couldn’t take listening to that all the time anymore. It was tearing me down.”

“Oh, grow a spine then.”

“I shouldn’t have to. I shouldn’t have to suffer this abuse.”

“It’s not abuse,” Jack protested.

“But it is.”

“Well if this is how it is going to go then we don’t need you anymore. And honestly will probably be better without you,” Mom snapped, clearly done with this conversation.

That was enough for Quinn to start crying. He couldn’t take it anymore, so he stood up to head out.

“Just give up Luke. He deserves better than you,” Mom cried.

Quinn didn’t want to hear any more of it. He knew that this conversation wasn’t going to go well but he couldn’t imagine it going this poorly. He was still crying when he stumbled out onto the street. Of course, it was fucking raining, so he got soaked in seconds.

He had to pull his phone out to get directions back to the hotel. Luckily it was nearby so he just walked. He had to pocket his phone, so it didn’t get soaked as well. By the time he made it back to the hotel he had stopped crying but was wet to the bone.

The hotel staff quickly got him his room key, probably so that he would stop dripping on the lobby floor. When he got up to the team’s floor he almost ran straight into Bo.

“Oh, Quinn, what happened?”

Quinn couldn’t form an answer as he was starting to shiver and still had tears in his eyes.

“Ok. Let’s get you out of these clothes.”

Bo grabbed his room key and bullied him into his room. Luckily his suitcase was sitting there so Bo grabbed an old shirt and sweatpants out. He quickly changed before allowing himself to be pushed onto the bed as Bo hung up his wet clothes to dry.

He was still shivering so the older forward curled up beside him. Bo started slowly running his hand through Quinn’s hair. It took almost ten minutes for Quinn to stop shivering and the whole time they were silent.

“Do you want to call Brady?” Bo asked.

Quinn nodded. Bo reached for Quinn’s phone, unlocked it and called Brady.

“Hey, Quinn, how are you?” Brady said.

“Brady, it’s actually Bo.”

“Shit, what’s happened to Quinn?”

“I haven’t asked him yet, but he came back to the hotel soaked and shivering and clearly very upset, so I’ll let you talk to him.”

Quinn was then handed his phone and smiled slightly when he saw Brady on the screen.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Bo whispered to Quinn.

“No, stay.” He clutched Bo’s arm, so the forward stayed curled around him.

“What happened?” Brady asked.

“I had a conversation with my family. Jack invited me around and I almost said no but I went. It seemed like it was going better but of course it then went to shit,” Quinn explained.

“Oh, babe, how bad was it?”

“Mom told me that they would be better off without me and that Luke would be better without me as well.”

“Quinn, that’s complete bullshit. It’s you that is better without them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course, Quinn. You’re actually amazing and Luke would tell you that you are the best person ever. You gave him an amazing place to live and done so much for him.”

Quinn couldn’t help but start crying again. “I just have a hard time actually believing it.”

“Fuck, I wish that I was there with you and could hug you.”

“Yeah, this sucks.”

They kept talking for a while, but Quinn found himself drifting off to sleep. After the game and the mentally tiring conversation he was exhausted. It was a good thing that his insomnia hadn’t come back because he needed the sleep.

When he woke the next morning, Bo was still pressed up against him. His phone was no longer in his hand but instead charging on the nightstand.

“Morning,” Bo whispered.

“Morning.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Still pretty shitty but slightly better I think,” he explained.

Bo had to get back to his own room to change so he left. Quinn then slowly got his shit together including his still slightly damp clothes from last night. As he was heading downstairs for breakfast, he ran into Virts. The winger looked at him for a second before pulling him into a tight hug.

“You look like you need a hug,” he said.

“Thanks.”

He didn’t talk much through breakfast. The rest of the team let him be. Soon enough they were out of the hotel and at the airport. Quinn took a window seat and was glad when no one sat down next to him.

He curled up against the window and just dozed there on the trip down to the Florida. He wasn’t feeling great but was feeling better than yesterday. Talking to Brady and Bo had helped a lot but it still hurt a lot.

At this point he decided that his family wasn’t worth it. They clearly weren’t going to change their mind and it wasn’t worth it. He had enough friends that were actually cared about him to not need his family. It wasn’t worth the pain anymore and he wasn’t going to deal with that shit anymore.

*******

When the team got back to Vancouver, he had an appointment with Ava. The longer it had been since being in Jersey the better he felt. Luke called him the day after, and they had a very long conversation about it. In the end they both decided to block their family and not bother with them anymore. He was also talking to Brady every day. He helped Quinn so much and made him feel so much better about himself. He just wanted to curl up into Brady’s arms but that wasn’t possible.

Ava was ready for him when he came in.

“So, you had a bit of a rough week then,” she smiled.

He had already told her the brief explanation of his week over the phone but now that they were together, he explained it again with more details. She just let him talk and talk and explain everything.

“So, what are you going to do then?” she asked.

“Luke and I both decided to block them. I’ve decided that it isn’t worth it,” Quinn told her.

“I think that that’s the right thing to do. They clearly aren’t looking out for you.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you talked to Brady much about it?”

“A lot. He’s been really good and helpful. It’s just hard because he lives so far away,” Quinn admitted.

“Of course. How has your insomnia been then?” she asked

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I struggled a lot. I only got four hours or so most nights but it’s getting better.”

“That’s definitely better than before. Anything in particular help?”

“Not sure. Brady helped a bit and the breathing techniques help a bit. I think that generally my insomnia is just not as bad.”

“That’s good then. You think that you will get more sleep over the next week then?”

“I think so.”

He talked to Ava for his remaining session time. By the time they were finished he felt better. He headed out back to his place feeling more upbeat. He was glad that they had the day off because he was ready to go collapse on his bed after that.

He pushed open the apartment door and noticed a strange pair of shoes sitting by the door. He didn’t think much of it, assuming that Mason had someone around. He headed towards his bedroom and pushed his door open.

He almost jumped in surprise when he found someone stretched out on the bed. He almost cried when he realised it was Brady. He quickly pulled his shoes off and jumped on the bed. He lay down beside Brady and rested his head on Brady’s chest.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“We’ve got four days between games, so Coach gave us two days off to rest. I thought that I’d come and visit you.”

“It’s so good to see you.”

“Yeah, I miss you so much.”

“How did you get in?” Quinn asked after a moment.

“Mason let me in.”

“Well, it was an awesome surprise to come back to.”

He relaxed into Brady’s arms and felt better than he had since he had been in Ottawa. Brady’s hand had moved up into Quinn’s hair which made him feel better.

“Thank you for being here for me,” Quinn whispered.

“Of course. I love you and would do anything for you,” Brady told him.

“I love you too.”

They spent the rest of the day together in bed. Quinn felt very clingy so was more than happy to stay so close to Brady. Eventually they had to get up in search of dinner. Quinn didn’t want to let go of Brady, so his boyfriend picked him up and carried him into the kitchen. He got placed on the counter and Brady then moved to look the in fridge.

“Do you have anything in particular you want to eat?” he asked.

“I think there is a curry in there that should be eaten,” Quinn told him.

“Should I ask Mason if he wants some?”

“Probably.”

Brady disappeared back into the apartment before coming back with Mason.

“Thanks for letting Brady in,” Quinn told him.

“Of course.”

Once Brady had finished heating the food back up the three of them moved to sit on the couch. Brady was more than happy to let Quinn sit in his lap which made him so happy. They mostly talked about hockey as they ate.

“And don’t think that the team will not let you get away with not bring Brady to meet the team,” Mason told him.

“Fuck, Virts won’t fucking shut up then,” Quinn groaned.

“Bring him to the arena after practice tomorrow. We can go out for food afterward.”

Quinn agreed because he knew that his teammates wouldn’t be happy if they didn’t get a chance to give Brady a shovel talk.

“It’ll be fun to see your teammates again,” Brady smiled.

“Mmm”

Quinn was started to fall asleep. Brady was a comfortable seat, so he was more than happy to doze there. He must have actually fallen asleep at some point because he woke the next morning in bed beside Brady. He was already awake, so Quinn rolled over to face him.

“Are you sure that you are fine coming to meet my teammates?” Quinn asked.

“Of course,”

“Even if they shovel talk you?”

“Especially if they shovel talk me.”

Quinn smiled at that. After a moment he groaned because he really did have to get up and get his shit together.

“You know that you will have quite a bit of time to yourself. I’ll text you after we are done and we’ll meet you somewhere,” Quinn told him.

“And I’ll make the most of not having the get out of bed for a while,” Brady smirked.

Quinn rolled his eyes but kissed him once before heading out with Mason. As soon as they reached the locker room Quinn was bounced on by Virts.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked.

“He’s going to meet up with us after we are done,” Quinn told him while glaring at Mason, “And how would you know that he is here?”

“Mase told us.”

Practice, video and the other meetings were fairly boring, and everyone seemed excited to meet up with Brady. By the time that they were all finished it was practically dinner time, so they agreed to meet at one of their usual places for food. Quinn had to go pick up Brady first, so he left first. When he got to back to his apartment Brady was waiting for him.

“You ready?”

“Yeah, I’m excited to see your teammates again,” Brady smiled.

Quinn smiled. It didn’t take them long to reach the restaurant. Right as they got out of the car a few of his teammates were waiting outside. They all greeted Brady before getting ushered inside and seated. Unsurprisingly his teammates made sure that he was seated next to Brady at the middle of the table.

“Well, it’s good to see you here again,” Bo smiled.

“Of course. It’s good to see you all again.”

“Honestly we thought that you two were going to get your shit together ages ago but it’s good to see that you finally did,” Virts smiled.

Brady nudged Quinn slightly which made him smile. He then grabbed Quinn’s hand under the table and squeezed it slightly.

“You guys are good for each other,” Boes added.

“And you make Quinn smile.”

That made Quinn smile. It wasn’t the first time that Quinn had heard that. It was nice to hear that his friends thought that Brady was good for him. Brady squeezed his hand again and Quinn moved his chair slightly closer to Brady.

The conversation stayed on him and Brady for a while. All of his teammates were engaged in the conversation and seemed to be pretty nice to Brady all up. Just before their food arrived Brady left to go to the bathroom and Quinn noticed that Virts disappeared as well. He didn’t think much of it until the pair of them appeared again. Brady looked white while Virts had a smile on his face.

“Virts is scary when he wants to be,” Brady whispered to him.

“What?”

“He threatened me in the bathroom.”

“That explains that smile on his face then,” Quinn chuckled.

“Oh yeah, he was pretty pleased with himself.”

“How bad was it? I can tell them to stop.”

“It wasn’t that bad. Slightly scary but I was expecting it, so it wasn’t too bad.”

The rest of the night was a good time. By the time Brady and Quinn left the group of few more of teammates had had a word with Brady that Quinn was pretty sure was they were vaguely threatening as well. Quinn offered a couple more times to hold them off, but his boyfriend was more than happy to let it continue.

When they did leave Quinn was more than ready to go straight to bed. It was amazing to have another night with his boyfriend curled around him. Neither of them were quite ready to go to sleep so they lay in the dark quietly talking.

After having a little bit of time with Brady, Quinn felt better than he had in a while and after they had finished talking, he fell asleep easily.

******

Once Brady had left the season continued on. His teammates talked to him afterwards and all loved Brady. He was glad that his friends liked his boyfriend and whenever any of them found him talking to Brady they liked to join in. Luckily Brady seemed to just find this amusing.

The Devils and Jack came to Vancouver but luckily Jack didn’t bother him at all this time. The team was winning, and Quinn was playing well so he was feeling good about himself. It was then that he first thought about talking about his mental health and his struggles with it. He thought about it for almost a week before deciding that it was something that he wanted to do. He talked with the media team about how he wanted to do it before they decided on an interview style video.

The hardest part was deciding who to do it with. There was no particular media person that stood out and they were stuck for a few days unsure. And then he happened to mention this issue to Virts who immediately offered to do it with him. After talking though it with him they sat down a few days later they sat down to film it.

He and Virts had worked out some general questions and topics to hit but they didn’t want to start with it too structured. They sat down opposite each other and after a deep breath they started. The beginning was fairly mundane until they got to the topic of mental health.

“So, how important is support for mental health in your opinion?” Virts asked.

“Incredibly important. As someone who suffers from anxiety and has really struggled with my own mental health support is really important.”

“How you realised you suffer from anxiety?”

“I’m not really sure when it started but it really hit me when I was eighteen. In all honesty it probably started before that. I’ve had problems with my family, and they caused me a stress. I don’t want to go into all the details but to cut a long story short I was constantly getting compared to Jack and told that I could never live up to that. After hearing it so much it’s really hard to block it out and believe in yourself. So, I just started doubting myself all the time and unsure of what I was doing.”

“And when did you first look for support by yourself?”

“It was actually after a World Champs. My family had come over since both Jack and I were playing. Just spending time with them really affected me and I really suffered from insomnia. It was something that I had had before but it meant that I was getting barely a couple of hours of sleep a night which was really bad while I was competing.”

“Of course, sleep is so important,” Virts smiled.

“Yeah, so when I came back to Vancouver, I started looking for a therapist. It took a couple of weeks for me to find someone I wanted to talk to but at last I did. And she is still my therapist to this day.”

“And how often do you talk to her?”

“Every week or two depending on how I’m feeling and my schedule”

“Had you spoken to a therapist before?”

“Once, but it didn’t go well so I never went back.”

“And why is talking to your therapist so important for you?” Virts asked.

“Talking to her really helps me think through everything and calm me down. She’s also given me a few techniques to help with my insomnia when I’ve having problems with that that really help so I don’t have to take medication.”

“Is there anyone else who helps you?”

“The team is really great. I can talk to any one of you guys and you will listen and offer advice if I need it. And my partner is really good to talk to for the same reason and because they can talk to me about anything and calm me down which is really important.”

“And why is mental health support so important?”

“I was suffering alone for a long time. It wasn’t until I talked to someone else about it that I started to feel better about myself.”

“And on a final note what would you say to anyone struggling out there?”

“You have never alone no matter what. Talk to someone, get help if you need it. Don’t suffer alone,” Quinn told him.

The cameras shut off and Quinn slumped back into his seat. Virts clambered out of his own seat and moved to balance on the arm rest of Quinn’s. He let against the winger’s shoulder who then wrapped an arm around him.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“That was really hard to talk about but I’m glad that I did,” Quinn admitted.

“Of course.”

They sat like that for a moment as Quinn controlled his breathing. Virts slowly rubbed his hand against his back as Quinn rested his head against Virts’ shoulder.

“Do you want to call Brady?” Virts asked.

“I’m fine at the moment. I’ll call him later.”

After they sat there for a few minutes Quinn felt calm enough to head out of the room and head for their meeting. He slipped into one of the backseats and settled down as Coach started to talk. By the time they had finished he was in a good mood.

******

He was honestly surprised with the positive comments after the video was up. The most surprising was a girl that approached him as he was signing things for fans.

“Thank you for the video,” she said.

Quinn glanced at her and she looked maybe about his age, so he smiled at her.

“It encouraged me to actually reach out for help and I finally am starting to feel better about myself,” she told him.

“I’m glad for that and really happy that you are feeling better,” Quinn honestly told her.

He then reached other and hugged her tightly. She was let out a slight sob. He wished that he had more time to talk to her, but he had to get inside for the game. He wished her well once more before heading inside.

Once out of the view of others he stopped to take a deep breath. It was so strange to see how he could affect someone so much, but it was nice. It made him feel proud of himself. He had had people send him messages on social media, but it was different to have someone tell him in person.

He didn’t have long to think about it as he had to get ready for the game. He moved through his usual pregame routines and headed out onto the ice. He didn’t really notice the signs that were held up against the glass until Bo pointed one of them out to him.

He spun around and glanced at the sign that had his name on. All it said was Thank you Quinn. There was a guy probably his age. Quinn wished that he could have a chance to talk to him, but he really couldn’t. He picked up a puck off the ice and flipped it to him. The guy smiled brightly at him and Quinn smiled as well.

As he headed off the ice, he found one of the media team members.

“Can you possibly invite the guy with the sign back down after the game?” Quinn asked.

“Of course.”

Quinn smiled at them. He had to push that out of his mind and focus on the game. It was a good game and they won so the locker room was very loud afterwards. He was glad not to have to deal with the media, so he quickly showered and changed. As he headed out of the room, he was greeted by the same media member and the guy with the sign.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Quinn told him.

The guy looked a little shell-shocked but managed to stutter a greeting and introduce himself as Jason.

“I liked the sign you have,” Quinn told him.

“Thank you, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate what you said,” he said, as the two of them walked slightly further so they could sit in a quiet area.

“Thanks, it was really important for me to try and help people suffering through the same things as me to be able to seek help.”

“I was already getting help but it was really nice to hear that even athletes that you look up to suffer the same things that you do. It’s strangely reassuring.”

“Confirmation that we are really just normal people.”

“Definitely. It’s just hard because I’ve had really problems with my family which lead to me leaving home at 18 and moving here to work. Since then I’ve really been struggling with my mental health.”

“Sounds very similar to me and of course some days are really hard,” Quinn said.

“Yep.”

“You got good friends here that can help?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah, my girlfriend is really good to talk to as well.”

“Same, except my partner doesn’t live here in Vancouver so that just makes it slightly harder.”

They talked for a bit longer, but it was getting late and they both should head home. Quinn really liked talking to him, so they exchanged numbers with the intention of meeting up at a later date. He then helped Jason out of building before heading towards his car.

By the time he got home Mason was already back and was eating in the kitchen. He felt exhausted so slumped into one of the seats beside the younger player.

“You looked like you were having a good conversation after the game,” Mason smiled.

“Yeah, it was the guy with the sign. I wanted to talk to him, and he was really nice.”

“You look really tired though.”

“It was just quite a hard conversation, but it was really good.”

“Do you want to a hug?”

Quinn nodded. Mason moved around and wrapped his arms around him.

“I just wish Brady was here.”

“Of course.”

After staying like that for a few minutes Quinn was ready to head for bed. He really wished that he could call Brady, but it was too late out East, and he didn’t want to wake him, so he just lay there until at last he did fall asleep.

*******

The team had a day off in Ottawa which gave Quinn an opportunity to meet up with Brady. The problem was that he agreed to meet up with Brady’s teammates. He knew that it was only fair since Brady had to deal with his team, especially Virts, but he was pretty nervous. The Sens didn’t have a day off so he could only meet them for dinner which gave him the whole day to be nervous.

His team was really good about keeping him distracted for most of the day but in the Uber to the restaurant that he was meeting them at he felt like puking. Of course, they were all already there and noticed Quinn as soon as he walked in.

It meant that he got pulled into the group, seated at the middle of the table and bombarded with names of players. There were a few people he knew. Obviously, Luke was here and so was Josh who he had known for ages. He had talked to Chabot a few times when FaceTiming Brady but that was about it.

He had a brief bit of calm as everyone ordered but once that was done all the attention turned to him.

“So, Hughes, you’re dating our little pest,” While started.

“Yeah.”

“But what do you see in him?” someone else teased.

Quinn glanced at Brady who had just rolled his eyes at his team, so Quinn smiled.

“Not much but I’m just using him to get to see the wonderful Matthew Tkachuk,” Quinn smirked.

“I had to think so. He’s definitely the better Tkachuk,” someone added.

Brady just put his head down on the table and groaned, so Quinn continued to chirp him. It helped him relax a bit and felt more comfortable around the team. It was just like his own team was and he could tell that he would get along with them.

They did eventually move from chirping Brady to asking questions about Quinn. Obviously with Luke on the team they knew a bit about him and didn’t ask about his family. Instead they asked about other topics which he was thankful for.

“Would you ever think about living in a better Canadian city?” Chabot asked.

“Are you trying to convince me that Ottawa is better than Vancouver?” Quinn teased.

“Not trying, you already know that Ottawa is much better.”

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself. But to answer the question Brady and I have talked about it.”

“I’m glad. We’d hate to have to hurt you. You seem to be good for Brady.”

“I’d hope so.”

“Brady hasn’t told us how you guys got together. He just blushes and won’t tell us,” White asks.

Quinn glanced at Brady who had buried his head in his hands. Quinn didn’t care because they didn’t have a great story really. It was pretty simple so he felt happy to tell it.

“Well, Brady and I had known each other for years at this point. Brady was pining for most of that time. Eventually, he was staying with me in Vancouver one summer. He took me out to the beach one day and then when we got back to my apartment he asked me out. So, we’ve been dating since then.” Quinn explained.

“Aww, cute,” someone cooed.

“Brady’s got a soft side,” someone else teased.

Brady blushed brighter red. Quinn leant over to wrap an arm around Brady and leant his head down so that he could whisper to him. “Now you know what you do with my teammates.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You sure do. Virts loves when you are around even before we were dating because you would tell stories of Baby Quinn as Virts puts it. He loves it.”

“Fine, maybe I do.”

“And now it’s my time for revenge,” Quinn smirked.

When he sat up straight he noticed the rest of the table smiling at them.

“Cute, anyway, do you have any embarrassing stories for us about Brady?”

“I sure do, I’ve got some great stories about Brady when we were in the Program,” Quinn started before launching into his first stories. 

After the food had arrived and been eaten Quinn had shared most of his embarrassing stories. Brady kept blushing as he kept talking. He, also, spent time trying to shut Quinn up but Quinn and the rest of his teammates wouldn’t let him. Since he had finished eating he headed to the bathroom and wasn’t extremely surprised to see Chabot and White followed him inside.

“You know that we have to give you a shovel talk?” Chabot started.

“Of course.”

“And if you hurt Brady in any way we will come and hunt you down.”

“And there is nothing that your team or your brother can do it stop it.”

“Of course,” Quinn said.

“It’s clear that you are good for him but if you hurt him he’ll be upset and we will hurt you for making him hurt.”

“Of course.”

“Good, so we are on the same page.”

The two of them then left without saying another word leaving Quinn alone in the bathroom. He took a couple of deep breaths before continuing on. When he got back to the table people were starting to leave. Each of them made an effort to say goodbye to Quinn which he appreciated.

By the time Quinn and Brady left Quinn was in a good mood. He had exchanged contact details with most of the team with the promise to exchange more embarrassing stories about Brady. He was, however, ready to follow Brady home and collapse in bed with him.

“I hope that that wasn’t too bad for you,” Brady said once they were in the car.

“No, it was fun. Your team is really great,” Quinn smiled.

“I’m glad, else I’d have to ask for a trade.”

“Yeah, Chabot and White only mildly threatened me in the bathroom.”

“They did what?” Brady asked looking shocked.

“Yeah, it was pretty mild, and it was nice to know that they care about you. You had to know that someone was going to do it.”

“True, as long as they didn’t scare you off.”

“They wouldn’t, I like you too much for some reason,” Quinn teased.

“Oh, thanks, I feel so appreciated.”

“You better.”

*******

This year the Canucks were the top seed in the East and looking at a home playoff series for the first time for Quinn. The Sens only just missed the playoffs so Brady pretty down on that. Luke was going to spend a while in Ottawa whereas Brady wanted to leave as soon as possible so he flew straight to Vancouver. This meant that Quinn came back from the rink one day to Brady on the couch.

“Fuck, it’s good to see you again,” Quinn sighed before climbing into Brady’s lap.

“I missed you so much.”

They sat like that for a few minutes just enjoy the fact that they were together again. Mason came back while they were still sitting there.

“Oh, Brady, it’s good to see you again,” he smiled.

“You too.”

It didn’t take long before they had to move in search of food. Quinn didn’t want to let go of his boyfriend, so he clung to him and let him carry him into the kitchen.

“What do you want to have for dinner?” Brady asked.

“I don’t care. I don’t even really know what is in the fridge,” Quinn smiled.

He was placed down on the bench as his boyfriend then moved about the kitchen. They continued to catch up as Brady started to cook. Mason joined them after a while, and it was a nice way to spend an evening. It was so nice to have Brady back with him and Quinn didn’t leave Brady’s side.

The best part was to have Brady curl around him when they went to bed. He loved the height difference between them as Brady could completely surround him and Quinn could bury in his arms. Even if his insomnia was bad at the time just having Brady with him helped him sleep better.

The hardest part was getting up the next morning. Especially since Brady wasn’t getting up and was going to spend the day in Quinn’s bed. Eventually he managed to pull himself out of bed and head to the rink with Mason.

Everyone was joking around during practice. Virts and Bo in particular were trying to keep it light, so we weren’t so nervous about the upcoming playoff game. Of course, it only took a couple of minutes for everyone to know that Brady was back in town and started teasing him.

It was all good light-hearted fun. It also made Quinn feel good because his teammates didn’t care that Brady was a guy. It was the same teasing that every other guy in the locker room got. It also helped that everyone loved Brady.

“So, will we see him with a Hughes jersey on tomorrow?” Virts chirped.

“I don’t think so,” Quinn said.

“Oh, what? Don’t you want to score tomorrow and look into the crowd and see him with your name on his back?” Bo teased.

Quinn couldn’t help but blush bright red at that, which obviously everyone noticed and chirped more. They headed off the ice not long later and into video.

Of course, once they were done for the day a lot of the guys decided to come around to his place since Brady was here. Quinn half-heartedly tried to protest but none of them were having it. When they got back Brady was stretched out on the couch.

“Hey, babe, apparently we have guests that decided to invite themselves,” Quinn told him.

“Sounds familiar.”

“And I just can’t seem to get rid of them.”

“Oh, come on, Quinn you love us,” Jake cooed and wrapped an arm around Quinn.

“If that’s what you have to tell yourself.”

Jake jabbed an elbow in Quinn’s side which made him squirm away and move to sit in Brady’s lap instead. His boyfriend just rolled his eyes at him. The rest of them settled around on the couch and they started a game.

It was a nice way to send the afternoon. He got to stay curled up with his boyfriend while hanging with his friends. Slowly people started heading out until only Virts was left.

“How long are you staying here?” Virts asked.

“At least as long as you guys are still in the playoffs and then I’ll see after that,” Brady said.

“So hopefully you will be here for a couple of months then?” Virts smirked.

“Don’t jinx it.”

Virts had to leave not long later leaving later so it was only the three of them.

“Kind of on that note, I’ve been thinking about next year,” Mason said.

“Yeah?”

“I’m thinking of moving out next year and give you your space back.”

“You don’t have to. I like having you here,” Quinn told him.

“Nah, take on another little rookie instead. My girlfriend and I are thinking of moving in together sometime soon so we might do that next season,” Mason explained.

“I’ll miss you here.”

He then moved from beside Brady to hug Mason tightly.

“You’re not getting rid of me. I’ll just be living elsewhere.”

It was going to be weird to not having someone living with him next year. From years of hockey he’d always a roommate of some kind and he had found he liked living with someone. He liked having his own space of course but it was an apartment and he could just shut his bedroom door for a while which he did often.

He did really like having Mason to talk with after games and just hang out with, but he had to admit that he did think that he was going to move out next year. He was definitely going to offer his spare room up to someone next year.

They headed to bed not long later and Quinn got to relish in the fact that Brady was going to sleep beside him. When he finished in the bathroom Brady was already in bed, so he curled up beside him.

“Are you going to go back to St Louis once I’m done?” Quinn asked.

“I don’t know. I want to spend as much time as possible with you, but I think Mom wants to see us at some point,” Brady told him.

“Both of us?”

“Of course. Mom has pretty much adopted you at this point so there’s no way you are getting out of seeing her.”

“And I wouldn’t want to. I love you Mom.”

“So, yeah, I just want to spend as much time with you,” Brady explained.

That made Quinn smile and hug him tighter.

“Just stay here all the year then,” he smiled.

“I’m sure the Sens wouldn’t mind that.”

“Of course not.”

He fell asleep not long later with his arms still around Brady.

******

Game five was in Vancouver with the Canucks up in the Series 3-1 giving them a chance to win the series. Quinn struggled to sleep the night before due to nerves, but Brady managed to calm him down.

He also promised Quinn that he would come to the game. Quinn had to be at the rink earlier, so he headed in with Mason and left his car for Brady to drive. Once at the rink he just had to settle into his usual routine and push his nerves out of his mind.

He could see jitters in his teammates, but everyone seemed pretty good at focusing on the game ahead. At last they headed out onto the ice for warmups and from there everything was much easier. He couldn’t help but glance up into the stands and see where Brady was.

He was very glad to be able to spot his boyfriend but then turned his focus to the ice and the game ahead. The game seemed to be one of the longest he had played. Everyone on the ice was pretty nervous and there were a couple of really simple mistake made.

At last Petey then Boes scored giving them a two-goal lead. Coach kept yelling at them to make sensible plays, but everyone was just trying to preserve the lead. They were pushed and pushed but Quinn was on the ice as the last seconds ticked down as Bo launched the puck down the ice.

He launched himself at Thatcher and let himself get lifted off the ice. Even though they had won the first series last year, it was just as good this year. He hugged a couple more players before they got moved into a line to shake hands.

Unsurprisingly the locker room was loud afterwards. Lots of people were planning where they were going out tonight. Quinn had a smile on his face as he stripped out of his gear and let the mood flow over him. Coach had a couple of things to say but told them to have a good night but not to do anything stupid.

“Make sure Brady comes out with us,” Virts called.

Quinn nodded and sent a text to his boyfriend informing him of this. He got an instant agreement telling him that he was waiting in his car. It took him a while to shower and change before being able to get out.

Everyone slowly filtered out of the room and headed out towards the bar. He headed out towards his car and as soon as he reached the garage, he got wrapped up in hug my Brady.

“Congratulations,” he smiled.

“Thanks.”

“You looked really hot out there,” he then whispered in Quinn’s ear.

“Braaaddddy.”

“If your teammates didn’t want us to meet us the bar, I would take you home right now,” he continued.

“Stop, Brady, we can’t.”

“Fine.”

Quinn pushed him towards the passenger side of the car before climbing in himself. When they reached the bar a lot of his teammates and a few partners were already there. Brady headed to the bar for drinks while Quinn settled in a booth with a few of the guys.

Since it was only the first round no one was going completely crazy. Quinn got a couple of drinks in him and mostly just relaxed. He didn’t drink that much so he didn’t want to go crazy but had enough to get a bit of a buzz. However, Brady was drunker and was trying to convince Quinn to come out and dance with him.

“No, Brady, you know I can’t dance,” Quinn protested.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“No”

“Please”

“No”

Brady turned to face him and pulled the puppy dog eyes out. It took all of Quinn’s will to not give in, but he really can’t dance at all.

“Quinn, come on.”

After a minute Quinn decided to give in and let Brady pull himself out of the booth and onto the dance floor. He mostly let Brady do the dancing but then he started grinding against Quinn. It was a slightly awkward position since Brady had a couple of inches on him, but Quinn didn’t care. They kept dancing for a while before Brady turned to him.

“You want to get out of here?” Brady smirked.

“I would love to.”

Brady pressed a kiss his lips before pushed him towards to the door. As they headed out Brady stayed pressed up against him and kiss his neck which made it a little hard to get out but eventually, they reached Quinn’s car.

“You’re going to have stop that if we want to get home,” Quinn told Brady.

“But what if I don’t want to?” he asked between kisses.

“Then we’re never going to leave.”

That finally convinced Brady, so he moved towards the car and let Quinn move around to the drivers’ side.

“You better keep your hands off me while I drive,” Quinn threatened.

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll throw you out of the car here.”

That was enough to get Brady to shut up for a moment. Quinn chuckled as he pulled out and started the drive home. After a few seconds Brady managed to get his thoughts back together and managed to hold a light conversation about the game.

That stopped as soon as they entered the apartment. The second the door was shut behind him Brady pushed him up against it.

“I’ve wanted to get my hands on you all night,” he whispered in his ear.

Quinn gasped as Brady bit the side of his neck. His head rested back against the door as Brady’s hands snuck up the back of his shirt.

“Do you want to move this to the bedroom?” Brady asked.

“You were the one that stopped here,” Quinn teased him.

“So, then I’m going to be the one to move us.”

Brady spun him around before pushing him in the direction of the bedroom. Quinn was more than happy to go and pulled his boyfriend along with him.

*******

Quinn was honestly unsure how they made the Cup Final against the Penguins. Their previous two series had gone to seven games. It honestly seemed like a dream as well. Media day the day before was insane. He’d never had so many reporters in front of him.

He was just glad to be on the ice for the first game. He had serious nerves but once the puck was dropped, he could push them out of his mind and focus on the game. The home crowd created an amazing atmosphere and was even better when they won 3-2.

He wasn’t sure why, but he was more nervous before Game 2 and was lying in bed struggling to sleep. He was pretty sure that Brady was also awake, so he rolled over to face him.

“Do you ever think about the future?” Quinn whispered.

“Our future, our future together or just the future in general?” he asked equally quietly.

“I don’t know, our future together I guess?”

“I haven’t really thought about it, but I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else ever.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I’d ask you to marry me now if I thought that you’d say yes,” Brady admitted.

“I would.”

“Would what?”

“Say yes, I couldn’t imagine myself with anyone else. Even if we live separate for years,” Quinn smiled.

“We could sign together one day like Parise and Suter.”

“We could but I love it here in Vancouver and you like it in Ottawa, and I’d suffer through all the pains of long distance if you wanted to.”

“I would too. Then we can retire somewhere together,” Brady smiled.

“Would you want kids?” Quinn asked after a beat.

“I hadn’t really thought about it. I mean we’d have to adopt or something, but I do quite like the idea of having kids. You?”

“I’d really like kids. Being able to teach them to skate and all that would be really great. I’d just hope to be better parents than my own.”

“Of course, you will. You’re nothing like them.”

They continued to talk about their future for an hour. It was a calming conversation because Quinn confirmed that Brady was on the same page as him. He also more relaxed that he was before, and he fell asleep easily.

When he woke the next morning, he still felt calm. He managed to sneak out of Brady’s arms without waking him and head out to the rink. He forced himself to settle into his usual routine. He noticed that everyone else was a little tense as well as it was a little quieter than normal.

At last they were out on the ice and the puck was being dropped. Bo took the opening faceoff and the game started. Once again, the game felt like a blur with the Canucks once again winning. It honestly didn’t feel real, but they had to board a flight to Pittsburgh.

He was so exhausted and sore that as soon as he sat in his seat on the plane. It was going to be a late night with flying from the west to the east coast, but it gave them the whole day in Pittsburgh to prepare. Petey was sitting in his usual seat beside him but he ignored the winger so he could fall asleep.

********

Quinn thought he was dreaming when they travelled back to Vancouver with a 3-1 lead and a chance to win the cup in front of their home crowd. Coach had a couple of final words to say to them but soon enough they were out on the ice for warmups.

Quinn was slowing skating around the rink when he glanced up into the crowd and managed to find Brady. He knew that he was going to be here but seeing him here was something else. He had to focus on the on-ice drills and block everything else out once the puck was dropped.

Quinn was sitting on the bench when Boes scored the opening goal before assisting on Petey’s power play one. With ten minutes left they were clinging to the two-goal lead trying to shut it down. Every shift seems to last hours but at least the clock seemed to be slowly ticking down.

Quinn was on the ice with less than ten seconds left. He watched was Bo lobbed it down the ice and the final seconds ticked down. As the buzzer sounds Quinn launched himself at Marky in celebration. He lost his gloves, stick and helmet somewhere in the celebration but he didn’t care.

When all of his teammates hugged him, they all lifted him up off the ice and if it was any other situation, he might have cared but he couldn’t bring himself to. They managed to form some sort of line for handshakes before Bettman came out.

Petey won the Conn Smythe and then Bo was handed the cup. It was handed between his teammates before it was handed to him. His own lap with the cup felt like a dream but he managed to find and smile at Brady in the crowd.

He handed the cup off and skated over to Mysie.

“Congrats Huggy Bear.”

He then got lifted up off the ice and onto Mysie back. It was fun being a little taller for once and being skated around the ice. They ran into Bo first who reached up and high-fived Quinn.

“Look how tall you are,” he cooed.

“I can tower over you now.”

They celebrated on the ice for a while but eventually got ushered off. He had to eventually get put down by Mysie as their families came down onto the ice and he wanted to pick his son up. In all the mayhem he eventually managed to find Luke who had arrived in Vancouver a couple of days ago after being in Pittsburgh for Game 3 and 4.

“Congratulations. This is so cool,” Luke told him.

“Thanks.”

Photos got taken before they eventually got ushered off the ice and into the locker room. He stripped out of his gear as they waited for Bo to come in with the cup.

The rest of the night was a real blur. He remembered celebrated more in the locker room before heading out to multiple bars to drink. He also remembered meeting up with Brady at some point but everything else was blurry.

Unsurprisingly Quinn woke up with a serious headache. He was glad that he had at least somehow made it home because he was lying in his own bed. He groaned slightly as he rolled over and came face to face with his boyfriend.

“How are you this morning?” he smiled.

The sound really didn’t help his headache, so he just groaned again and buried his face in his pillow.

“There’s some aspirin and water on the bedside table if you want to.”

“Thank you.”

He swallowed the pills before closing his eyes again, “I think that I’m going to sleep some more.”

“Ok, I’m going to get up so come and find me when you want to.”

Brady slipped out from beside him and Quinn fell asleep moments later. When he woke a second time his headache had lessen so he felt ok stumbling out of bed. He found Brady stretched out on the couch, so he sat down beside him.

“What time is it?” Quinn asked.

“Just after noon. How are you feeling now?” Brady asked.

“A bit better. Did Mason make it home?”

“Nah, he went home with his girlfriend.”

Quinn reached for his phone and opened the team chat. Predictable there were a lot of drunk messages followed by a lot of messages complaining about hangovers. They luckily didn’t have to be anywhere today so Quinn could stay on the apartment and not do anything.

He instead spent the day curled on the couch watching trashy TV with Brady and that was much better.

*******

The next few days were also a blur. The parade was honestly the crazy experience of his life. The fans were absolutely crazy. At last a couple of days after the day he got a quiet day with Brady. After the mayhem of the last few days of having so many people around he just wanted some quiet.

Luke was off doing something for the day so Quinn’s original plan for the day was to spend it with Brady in bed. But Brady apparently had other plans. He woke to his boyfriend staring at him.

“What do you want?” Quinn asked.

“We’ve got plans for the day,” Brady informed him.

“Oh, do we?”

“Yeah.”

“Do I get to find out what they are?” Quinn asked.

“Nope.”

“Do I have to get up now?”

“Not yet.”

He lay there for a few more minutes but it was clear that Brady wanted to get up. It took them a while to get organised but after an hour they were out of the door. Brady still wasn’t telling him where they were going so, he just stopped asking.

He was slightly surprised but happy when they pulled up at the beach. Luckily it wasn’t too busy, so they managed to find a car park and head down onto the sand. It was a pleasant day, so it was good to be outside.

They spent time in the water and on the sand mucking around until early afternoon when Brady suggested they walked further down the beach. They walked down the beach in the shallows hand in hand.

Quinn paused to stare out at the water for a moment and noticed Brady moving beside him. When he turned back to face his boyfriend, he found him on one knee. Quinn gasped and couldn’t help the couple of tears that leaked out.

“So, we’ve known each other for years and at this point I couldn’t imagine my life without you beside me. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and I’m struggling for the right words to tell you how much you mean to be, but will you marry me?” Brady asked.

Quinn couldn’t help but started sobbing as he nodded. Brady stood up and wrapped Quinn in a tight hug. After collecting himself for a second, he turned to face Brady who showed him the ring. It was exactly what Quinn would pick for himself. It was a silver band with three smallish blue gems in it.

“It’s perfect,” Quinn told him.

Brady smiled brightly as he slipped the ring onto his finger. At that point it was a bit too much for him and he started sobbing more. Brady just smiled at him before pulling him closer.

“I love you,” Quinn gasped once he managed to calm down a bit.

“I love you too.”

They slowly wandered back ago the beach. Quinn didn’t want to let Brady out of arms reach and he was more than happy to stay close.

“Did Luke know about this?” Quinn asked.

“Yeah, he told me to go do it and found a reason to be out of the way.”

“Did he help you pick out the ring?”

“Yeah, a couple of months ago back in Ottawa,” Brady explained.

“You’ve had the ring for that long?”

“I told you I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else.”

Quinn blushed bright red at that comment. “I couldn’t imagine marrying anyone else either.”

After packing their stuff, they headed home. Luckily no one was in the apartment because the second they got home Quinn pushed Brady up against the wall kissing him. When they broke apart Quinn grabbed Brady’s hand and pulled him towards the bedroom.

*******

The team met up the day for lunch for the last time before most of the team left the city for summer. They ended up at one of their usual places at a long table discussing their plans for the summer and for their day with the cup. At some point he must’ve more his arms to be folded on the table and when he looked up Thatch was staring at him from across the table.

“Nice ring,” the goaltender commented when he noticed Quinn looking up at him.

“Thanks.”

“What ring?” Virts squawked silencing the rest of the table.

“My engagement ring,” Quinn smirked at him.

“Tkachuk?”

“Of course.”

That started everyone up at the table. There were congratulations as well as various other comments being made. That was until Virts shushed everyone.

“First of all, congratulations. Then, you’ve got to tell us more details. When and where and everything?” he asked.

“It was just yesterday which is why I hadn’t told you guys because I wanted to do it in person. He took me to the beach that we went to before he asked me out. We went for a walk down the beach and then he asked me. He’d had the ring for a while and had even asked Luke for his approval,” Quinn explained.

“That’s so cute.”

“Can we see the ring?” Boes asked.

Quinn agreed and held his hand out so that the people around him could look at it.

“Have you thought about your wedding?” Bo asked.

“Not yet, Brady and I need to talk about it.”

They kept talking about it for most of the rest of lunch. He was glad that his team was so supportive and really liked Brady. He did, however, blush bright red as they started sharing their favourite stories of him and Brady. By the time he left he was in a really good mood.

When he got back to his apartment, he found Brady stretched out on the couch.

“How’s the team?” he asked.

“Good, noticed the ring so that covered most of the lunch discussion.” Quinn took a seat near Brady’s head so he could run his fingers through Brady’s hair.

“They like it?”

“Yeah, Bo did ask if we had thought about the wedding so we should probably talk about it,” Quinn said.

“Yeah, do you have anything thoughts about it?”

“I would love to do it at the end of the summer, but I don’t know if that’s a realistic timeline.”

“It definitely would be nice. I’d also like a smallish wedding, but I don’t know if that’s possible given how many people we know,” Brady admitted.

“Yeah, because obviously I’d invite the Canucks and ex-Canucks and you’d do the same with the Sens. Then there’s the guys from college and the program as well as your family so that’s a lot of people.”

“Imagine trying to find a venue on that short notice to fit everyone.”

They paused for a second to think about it. Quinn would love to be able to call Brady his husband in a couple of months, but it may not be possible. And with them living in different cities there is no way that they could have it until next off-season and that’s a year away.

“Do you think that the team would let you have in the arena? That would be big enough,” Brady asked after another moment.

“I don’t know. But that could work. Then it’s just sorting everything else out.”

“Food and cake would be the toughest. I mean I don’t really care if the place isn’t decorated because I think it would be more important to us to leave it more like a rink.”

“So, are we going to try and do this then?” Quinn asked.

“I think we are as long as we can use the rink.”

“Have you thought about a best man?”

“I was thinking probably Matty. You?”

“Luke.”

It was probably a crazy idea, but they agreed to try. Quinn didn’t have the energy to try plan any further now, so they agreed to shelve the plans for tomorrow. Then they would sort out the venue and find a wedding planning to help them with the rest.

*******

Their crazy idea ended up taking shape. Julia, their lovely planner, was absolutely amazing and recommended other great people to work with. No one said anything about the short timeline and Quinn was forever grateful for that. After all the time planning it was finally the day of the wedding.

Brady had stayed at a hotel the night before as Chantel insisted that they shouldn’t see each other the day of. Neither of them really cared about such traditions but they just went with it. Unsurprisingly, Quinn struggled to sleep the night before, a mix of nerves and not having Brady beside him.

He ended up getting up relatively early and just sitting at the kitchen bench slowly sipping his coffee. Luke was staying in his spare room, so he eventually stumbled out of bed and sat down beside him.

“Ready for this?” he asked.

“Of course, still nervous though.”

“Yeah, kind of weird to think that you are going to be old, boring and married now,” Luke chirped.

“Ha ha ha.”

“I’m glad you are marrying him though. He’s really good for you,” he said after a pause.

Quinn nodded and couldn’t help the couple of tears that almost escaped as he hugged his brother. They sat like that for a while until the door was thrown open and Virts barged in with Mason following behind.

“Ok Huggy Bear, time to get your shit together,” the winger called.

Quinn laughed and let himself get bullied back into his room to change. The rest of the morning was a bit of a blur. He got pulled in a million directions, but it meant he didn’t have time to think about his nerves.

At very last everything was set, and he was standing at the end of the make-shift aisle. Brady and Quinn decided that they would both walk down the aisle with Quinn going first.

“Ready?” Tanev asked.

The other thing Brady and Quinn both decided that they would have their fathers walk them down the aisle like a bride would. For Brady that was easy, but Quinn wasn’t inviting his father. Instead he decided on Chris Tanev since he was like a father to him, especially when he was rookie, so that felt right.

“Yeah.”

The music started and they started walking down the aisle. It didn’t take long to reach the front and soon Quinn was standing there with the officiant waiting for Brady. As soon as Brady started walking towards him with his father most of his nerves disappeared and he couldn’t help the cheesy smile on his face.

When he reached the front Quinn reached out and grabbed his hand so they could stand hand in hand as the officiant started.

If pressed about it later, Quinn honestly couldn’t remember much of what she said. Quinn and Brady had written their own vows. However, Quinn struggled to make it through his between tears and Brady wasn’t much better.

“You may now kiss the groom,” the officiant said after declaring them officially married.

They kissed to the cheers from all the guests before starting down back down the aisle. They didn’t get a moment to themselves before being ushered around for photos. There were ones with just them, their wedding party, Brady’s family and then each of their teams as well.

By the time the last photo was being taken Quinn was a little sick of it and ready to go find food. All the food and tables had been set up behind were the wedding was so everyone else was already seated and just waiting for them.

Very sensibly they had food before the speeches since they knew their guests were hockey players and likely very hungry. Of course, Quinn and Brady didn’t get much of a chance as they we constantly being interrupted by people wishing them congratulations. Then came the part that Quinn knew that he was going to cry during, the speeches. As father of the groom Keith started them off with a smile on his face.

“At this point I’ve known Quinn so long that I considered him a son long before he even started dating Brady because God knows that he’s a better son than either of the two that I have. He would offer help and we all know that Brady and Matt wouldn’t do that,” he started to a round of laughs.

“I told Brady that if he didn’t end up marrying Quinn then I would have to disown him and adopt Quinn instead. Brady just told me that he found that fair. I then forgot about that conversation for a while. Quinn and Brady seemed to go their separate ways as people tend to do but like they always have they ended up back together again.”

“And then Brady came and told us that he was dating Quinn and he was bringing him home to visit. I thought that I knew what it was going to be like, Quinn had visited us so many times before, but it was different. You could see how perfect they are for each other and how they balance each other out.

At that point Quinn couldn’t help the tears that started to run. Brady offered him a, slightly watery, smile and grabbed his hand under the table.

“I could share so many stories of the two of them doing dumb things together. Usually at Brady’s suggestion and Quinn would just nod and follow along because he liked seeing what mess Brady could get into. Instead I’m going to keep it short and say I’m glad to have a great son-in-law and an averagely ok son,” Keith finished.

“Thanks Dad,” Brady called out in jest which just made everyone else laugh more.

As best men Matty and Luke both gave great speeches that made Quinn cry even more and then Virts stood up which Quinn knew was likely to be a recipe for disaster.

“So, technically as a groomsman I wasn’t going to give a toast but then Bo in his captainly ways got us together and mentioned at there wasn’t going to be father of the groom speech for Quinn. We thought that we should do one since Quinn is still our small child. We tried to get Tanev to do it, but he refused. Mason is claiming that he can’t give good speeches so Quinn, I think I’m a better groomsman out of the two of us and clearly like you more. ”

“The first time I met Quinn was as a tiny rookie, while I guess he is still tiny. He fit in with the team really well since we were a pretty young team really. And then one day he wasn’t practicing, and he was smiling at his phone. We tried to him to tell who it was, but he wouldn’t. It was very obvious that it was someone important to him.”

“The first time that I saw Quinn and Brady together I thought that they were dating. When I found out they weren’t, I was shocked. For ages, I kept teasing Quinn about it and he just didn’t see it. He honestly didn’t think that Brady was interested in him. As a team we all saw it. I tried to start a betting pool for when they were going to get their shit together and at first Bo banned me from doing that. But after a while Bo gave in and we started a betting pool when they would get their shit together.”

“Then one training camp he came back with this smile on his face. He admitted that he had been visiting Brady’s family and they started dating. I’m big enough at this point to admit that I didn’t win the pool. But we’re not here to hear about that, we’re here to about how sappy these two are for each other.”

“These two are perfect for each other. I don’t think that the cliché, they are the only two in the room, is good enough for them. They way that they listen for each other and help each other is perfect. I’m not going too much more into it because else I’m going to make Quinn cry even more.”

“Before I finish my speech, I’ve got to embarrass Quinn at least once otherwise I’ve failed at my job up here. I’ve got to a recent story from our playoff run. Brady was here when his season finished it was after a game. There were a few people milling around and everyone had changed and then Brady came in. He said to Quinn that he was taking too long before lifting him up over his shoulder and carried him out of the room. It was the funniest thing that I’ve seen but apparently Brady was waiting him he was sick of that.”

Quinn couldn’t help but blush at that story and it made everyone else, including Brady, laugh.

“Of course, I’ve also listened to Quinn talk about Brady for an hour when he was drunk because everyone knows that Quinn doesn’t talk that much when sober. I’ve also seen the moping that Quinn does when they have to separate because these two are so in love. I don’t know two people that are more in love, so cheers to Quinn and Brady,” Virts finished.

Quinn was seriously crying now as he stood up to hug Virts.

“Thank you.”

“I got to embarrass you. It was my pleasure.”

The rest of the reception was a bit of a blur as well. The music started, they had their first dance and was all around a good time. It was a great time with everyone together but by the end night Quinn was exhausted. He found himself sitting down in a chair and his eyelids were getting heavy.

“You ready to go home?” Brady asked.

Quinn hummed in agreement. He didn’t move for a second, trying to get his energy to move, but then he got lifted up out of his chair.

“Oh cute, Quinn the bride is getting carried,” Virts cooed.

Quinn flipped him off without opening his eyes. The drive back to the apartment was quick and quiet. He was glad that Brady carried him up as well because he was just exhausted. The problem was when they reached the bedroom.

“Come on, Quinn, you need to change out of your suit,” Brady told him.

Quinn groaned but he did as he was told. He then collapsed straight back onto the bed. After a few minutes Brady crawled up beside him.

“I’m glad I married you.”

“I’m glad I married you too.”

*******

They couldn’t have a very long honeymoon since they have to be back for their respective training camps. They did manage to find time to get a week and a half trip to Cancun. The problem was that the flights were relatively early the next morning and Quinn was still exhausted. Between Brady dragging him and two cups of coffee, he managed to get his shit together enough to be vaguely awake when he sat down on the plane.

The flight wasn’t too bad as Quinn slept for most of it and soon enough, they were at their hotel.

“What do you want to do first?” Brady asked.

“Take a nap.”

“Come on, we aren’t here. Come to the beach with me.”

“As long as you don’t wear a shirt so I can stare at you.”

Brady just rolled his eyes at him but didn’t put a shirt back on after changing into trunks, so Quinn counted this as a win. There wasn’t a crazy amount of people of the beach so they could easily find somewhere to sit.

“Are you coming into the water with me?”

“Probably not.”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Brady hoisted him up over his shoulder and started to carry him towards the water.

“I said no, Brady, come on, put me down,” Quinn tried to protest but it was no good.

He did eventually get put down, but it was into the water. As soon as he got up, he tackled Brady into the water. This led to a water fight that ended in them both being soaked and having swallowed a large amount of water.

After a while Quinn was starting to tire so he just lay back in the water, floating on the surface.

“This was a good place to come,” Quinn told Brady.

“Yeah, well, I thought we should have a honeymoon and the only place that we’ve travelled together as a couple is St Louis, so I thought something more exciting was in order.”

Quinn was starting to feel a bit like a prune in the water, so he decided to go lay on the sand which was his initial plan. Brady had too much energy for that so he disappeared off down the beach to see what else was around.

Quinn must have drifted off at some point because he woke to Brady standing over him, staring down at him.

“You should probably go inside before you burn,” Brady told him.

“Probably.” But he made no effort to move.

“Come on, I’m not carrying you this time.”

Quinn grumbled, half-heartedly, about terrible husbands but he did stand up and follow Brady inside.

“Do you want to continue your nap or go find food?” Brady asked.

“Food sounds like a good idea.”

After showering and changing they managed to find a small restaurant that gave me a small table in the corner.

“What was your favourite part of the wedding?” Quinn asked.

“I mean apart from actually marrying you, the speeches were funny except for the fact my dad like you more than me,” Brady laughed.

“I mean of course, I’m just great.”

“Fuck you too.”

“The cake was really nice as well even if I struggled to cut the first bit.”

They’d ordered a really nice chocolate cake and it was amazing. Quinn went back for a couple of extra bits of it and the leftovers were sitting in his fridge at home to eat more off later.

“I also like that I now have a ring, since only you had the engagement ring,” Brady added.

They had initially discussed Brady getting an engagement ring as well as the wedding rings but decided that that was a step too far. The rings that they pick out were woven gold bands that they both really liked. The problem was that neither wanted to wear a ring out on the ice just in case and Quinn was planning on just taking it off before the game and then putting it back on. Then the bridal party gave them each a gold chain that they could be worn on which Quinn liked much more because then he could always be wearing it.

“Even if it was like two months of panic, I’m glad that we did it this year. I don’t think I could wait until next off-season.”

“Neither. We should do something nice for your Mom since she helped a lot,” Quinn suggested.

“We should and that’s why you are the favourite,” Brady smirked.

They kept talking about the wedding as they ate. There were still a few things that needed to be sorted such as all the wedding presents. They were all sitting in Quinn’s lounge as they hadn’t had a chance to look at them. They would need to be organised at some point, but it could wait.

“I also have a present for you back in the room,” Quinn told Brady.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you because it won’t be a surprise.”

Brady just pouted at him, but Quinn wasn’t going to be swayed. They were almost finished with their food anyway, so he didn’t have to wait long. The second that they got back to their room Brady was asking about it.

“Sit on the bed and I’ll find it in my suitcase for you,” Quinn told him.

Brady did as he was told and after rummaging around for a minute, Quinn handed him a package wrapped in silver paper.

“Now I feel bad I didn’t get you anything,” Brady said.

“I didn’t really either, but you’ll see when you open it,” Quinn told him.

Brady tore into the paper and looked slightly confused when he pulled a Canucks jersey out.

“I thought told you I would never wear a Canucks jersey,” Brady joked.

“It’s not for you to wear. It’s mine and turn it around,” Quinn explained.

Brady did as instructed and froze when he saw the name that was on the back.

“I got the equipment team to make it for me.”

Brady nodded but he was still staring at the TKACHUK that was written across the back.

“Can you wear it for me?” he asked.

Quinn nodded and pulled it on over his current shirt. That was all it took for Brady to leap up, push him up against the wall and start kissing him.

“You look so hot with my name on you,” he breathed between kisses.

Brady then manoeuvred him around before pushing him onto the bed. His husband then climbed in beside him before continuing kissing him.

“You can never take that off,” he told him.

A few hours later they were still lying in bed together when Quinn rolled over to face Brady.

“Have you ever thought about coming out?” he asked.

“Coming out?”

“Yeah, as a couple and therefore as not straight.”

“I’ve definitely thought about it. How come you ask?” Brady asked.

“I’ve just been thinking about it a bit recently,” Quinn admitted.

“Same, but there would probably be a lot of negativity. The hockey community doesn’t exactly welcome with open arms.”

“Yeah, but it would be really nice to say things like I’m going to see my husband and not have to lie about it.”

“It would. Have you ever talked to your team about it?”

“A while ago. Part of it was the fact I was dating a guy and just in case that came out, but they were really supportive and let me dictate what I was comfortable with and I’ve been thinking about maybe doing it.”

“Yeah, I had a similar meeting with the Sens. How would you want to do it if we did?” Brady asked.

“I don’t know. I know we’d have to do a lot of interviews about it, so I don’t think I’d want to come out in an interview, but I wasn’t really sure,” Quinn said.

They paused for a moment unsure of what else to say. Then it appeared like Brady had an idea.

“What if you changed your name?” Brady asked.

“What?”

“Yeah, we’re married now. You could officially become a Tkachuk.”

“And then I could change it from Hughes to Tkachuk on my jersey. Are you sure you aren’t just suggesting this so I can keep having it on my back?” Quinn teased.

“Of course not,” he smirked.

“But that would be great because I wouldn’t have to be a Hughes anymore.”

“You wouldn’t want to be.”

“No, I don’t want to be associated with the name anymore. I’d be honoured to be a Tkachuk.”

“Even if it means that you have to become a pest now?”

“Sure, and your dad can get the son he wants.”

Brady rolled his eyes at that and they paused for a moment.

“Are we sure we wanted to do this? It’s kind of a crazy idea that we only just thought of and discussed?” Brady asked.

“I mean our last crazy idea worked,” Quinn said thinking of the wedding.

“This is a little more dramatic though.”

“It is true but coming out is something that we had both thought of for a while now on our own. If we weren’t comfortable with the idea then we would already know.”

“So, are we calling our teams then?”

“I think we are.”

It would take a bit of time to sort out the details and there were a few people to tell but Quinn was happy to take the step and do it.

*******

The first day of training camp was always exciting for everyone and for the beat writers it means being back at the rink as well. For Jeff, it meant the first of many days up in the stands watching the team practice.

Being the first day there were a lot of players on the ice so he was just scanning the names and numbers to check that everyone he thought should be here when he came across something strange. Tkachuk, Number 43.

He stared at the player for a moment. He didn’t remember the team acquiring either Brady or Matthew Tkachuk and why were they wearing Hughes’ number? He then realised he hadn’t seen Quinn at all on the ice and he definitely should be. After another minute of sharing he realised that the player was Quinn. It should’ve been more obvious since he was skating as a defenceman, but it wasn’t really a thought that crossed his mind.

He reached for his phone before opening Twitter.

_Hughes wearing a jersey with Tkachuk on the back at camp today. Lost a bet over summer?_

He knew that he wasn’t going to find out anymore until after practice, so he pushed that out of his mind and focused on what was happening on the ice. It was clear from the conversation around him that he wasn’t the only one that noticed, and they were speculating about the reason why.

As soon as they were allowed into the room for interviews most people rushed over to talk to Hughes which he looked like he was expecting. As a group they asked a couple of questions about summer and being back on the ice before someone broached the subject of his jersey.

“Well, I got married over the summer and changed my jersey to match my legal name,” he explained.

“Congratulations, but how come you decided to take your wife’s name?” someone asked.

“I didn’t. I took my husband’s name.”

Everyone was silent for a second as that was not the answer that they expected to come out of his mouth.

“Before anyone asks, my husband is Brady and I’m gay while he is bi,” Quinn explained quickly.

“Has the rest of the team met him?” someone asked.

“Everyone that was on the team last year was at the wedding. They’ve known him longer than I’ve been dating him.”

A couple more questions were asked before it was clear that Quinn had had enough of it and they were all ushered away. When he turned back over his shoulder for a second, he noticed Horvat had moved to talk to the young defenceman. He looked calmer than Jeff would expect for someone that had just come out, but he guessed that he had been planning this for a while.

Now he was a little stuck as to what to do. He knew that someone else that was a part of the scrum had probably already tweeted out Quinn’s explanation and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it. He felt that it deserved more words than just a tweet but felt a little strange writing about someone else coming out. In the end, he decided on a tweet for now before writing something later.

_Quinn says jersey is his new name. Got married over the summer to Brady Tkachuk, hence the name change_

*******

After coming out the next few days were manic. So many people were asking for interviews and all got turned down. It wasn’t something that Quinn could face right now, and the PR team knew this beforehand so were fine with it. Thankfully he hadn’t heard any homophobic comments in the locker room, but he knew the real test would be out on the ice.

He and Brady were planning on doing an interview together but hadn’t managed to find time to do it before training camp started after they came back from their honeymoon. Instead Brady managed to find a day that he could fly out to Vancouver and do it then. It was decided that they would do it in a similar style to his mental health talk with Virts but with Brady as well.

They settled into their seats with him next to Brady and Virts opposite them. Quinn couldn’t help his leg bouncing with nerves, but he just had to push that out of his mind. Once again, he mostly knew what Virts was going to ask but that wasn’t reassuring him. Brady put on a hand on his thigh which help a bit but he was still nervous.

“You ready?”

Both he and Brady so Virts started with his opening spiel. He introduced all of them before turning to the pair opposite him.

“So, first things first, how long have you guys known each other and when did you start dating?” he asked.

“We’ve known each other for ages now. So long and I can’t even remember when we met. Quinn’s known my family for ages and was pretty much a son to my parents before we got married and probably even before we started dating,” Brady started.

“And we didn’t start dating that long ago. It was a situation was we were both a bit oblivious to the fact that we both liked the other. Everyone around us were telling us but we couldn’t believe it,” Quinn finished.

“How come you decided to get married so quickly then? Especially since you live in different cities.”

“I think the different cities was part of the reason we did it so quickly. We might not have been officially dating for that long, but we’ve known each other for years and were really close. A lot of people already thought that we were already dating, and it wasn’t that much of a change. And then after we got engaged, we wanted to make it official before having to separate.”

“Who proposed to who? And what was it like?”

“I proposed to Quinn. I’d been thinking about it for a while. As for what it was like I’m not going to go into too much detail, but I did it at the beach. It was somewhere we had been to a bit and where we had been before I asked him out originally, so I thought it was really important to do it there.”

There were a few more question about their relationship before the question came that he didn’t have a great answer for.

“How did you know about your sexuality?”

“Well, I’m bisexual so I like men and women. I’m not even sure when it was, I was probably 15 or 16. I just realised that there was a guy in my class that I found attractive. From there it was just some introspective thought that I liked both,” Brady vaguely explained.

“Whereas I’m gay and I never saw what other guys saw in girls. I just wasn’t interested and realised that I was interested in guys instead.”

“Who did you first come out it?”

“Matty.”

“My brother Luke.”

“What about coming out to your teams?”

“The Sens are great. None of them care and all and they really like Quinn.”

“The Canucks are great as well. I didn’t really come out to anyone here. Most of them assumed that I was dating Brady and also didn’t care.”

“We just teased him about it when we realised, he wasn’t actually dating Brady because it was funny to see him blush. We were so happy when the two of them got together,” Virts chimed in.

Quinn blushed slightly at the comment which just made the other two laugh more. Not wanting to make it worse he just turned his head and buried his face in Brady’s neck instead.

“OK, moving on, how come you two decided to come out?”

“I guess part of it is just not having to pretend anymore. Just being able to say that I’m going to meet up with my husband rather than having to lie is nice.”

“And also showing people that your sexuality really shouldn’t matter. We both made it to the show and it really doesn’t make us a worse player. I’m not going to lie, when I realised I was gay I was worried that that meant that I should quit hockey and move on but that isn’t true.”

“Just having visible representation helps. Even if we are just two people and help one person out there be more comfortable with themselves and still able to love the sport then it will be worth it.”

“Was coming out something that you had thought about for a while?” Virts asked.

“Probably not as long as people would think. It was something that we had both thought about for a while before having a conversation about it on our honeymoon. Once we started talking about it was clear that it was something that we both wanted to do so decided to do before we chickened out.”

“How come you decided to come out the way that you did?”

“We wanted something that wasn’t just a statement or an interview. Plus Quinn wanted to change his name so it made sense.”

“Quinn, how do you feel able being a Tkachuk now?” Virts asked.

“It’s good but I feel like I need to start annoying some more people.”

“And why did you decide to become a Tkachuk and not hyphenate or something else?”

“Because it just feels right and I didn’t want to be a Hughes anymore. The Tkachuk’s have been my family for a while so it felt right,” Quinn explained.

“And he asked Dad if that was alright which my Dad was extremely impressed by and made him love Quinn even more,” Brady added.

“So you aren’t the favourite anymore?” Virts teased.

“Nope, Dad loves Quinn more than any of the rest of us.”

There were a couple more questions, but they were a bit of a blur. Soon enough the cameras were shut off and Quinn felt like he could relax a bit.

“That was great. Thanks for letting me help,” Virts smiled.

“Of course, thanks for helping.” Quinn reached stood up to hug the winger as thanks.

Brady smiled before hugging Quinn as well, “I’m glad we did this.”

“So am I.”

*******

Quinn’s parents and Jack had been trying to call him ever since he came out. And then after the interview came out, they started trying to call even more. Probably because he said he didn’t want to have Hughes on his back, and he didn’t consider them family. Quinn wasn’t stupid though. He always ignored them and deleted any voicemail they left. He thought about blocking them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He thought that would be the end of it. He hadn’t talked to them in ages and they hadn’t tried to contact him or Luke at all in that time. That was until he was heading out of the rink with Bo one day and there his Mom was standing at the entrance. He was about to turn and walk away when she noticed him and headed for them.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Quinn asked.

“I wanted to talk to you,” she pleaded.

“And why do you think that I would want to do that? I’ve been ignoring your calls for a reason.”

“You didn’t even invite us to your wedding. We’re your family.”

“I only invited the people I wanted to be there. I didn’t need people who hurt me and make me feel shit about myself.”

“But I don’t understand what we did.”

“That’s the fucking problem. We’ve had this conversation again and again and it always ends up the same way. I explain why I’m upset with you and you push it aside and claim that it’s not a real problem and you didn’t do anything and I’m sick of it.”

“I just want to understand to try and fix it,” she pleaded again.

Quinn just stared at her in disgust, “I’m not going to waste my time trying to explain. I’m done with you and Dad and Jack. You’ve hurt me too many times and I’m not going to forgive you. You can’t make me.”

“But we are family.”

“No, we are. I have a family and it is the guys on this team and the Tkachuks because they actually care about me.”

“But we are your real family.”

“Real families don’t insult and belittle their own. You may be my blood, but you will never ever be my family again.”

“It doesn’t have to be a lot at first. Come on, just give us a chance.”

“No. For the first time in a long time I feel good about myself. I haven’t had nights awake, struggling to sleep because of my insomnia in ages and I’m not going to start now. I’m never going to forgive you and I don’t really want to see you so you can just leave,” Quinn snapped.

“No.”

“Yes, go back home or to Jack and whine about how terrible I am like you always do and I don’t want to see you again.”

Thankfully at that moment security appeared. It took a little bit of convincing to get her to leave but threatening to call the cops was enough to turn her around.

“Can you make sure that she is never allowed here again?” Quinn asked.

Security nodded and took note of the situation before disappeared off. Quinn felt incredibly shaky on his feet so slowly made his way to one of the benches before sitting down.

“Are you feeling ok?” Bo asked, sitting beside him.

Quinn nodded but his hands were tremoring slightly, so he wasn’t surprised when the forward didn’t believe him.

“How about you come with me and can stay with us tonight? And you can call Brady too,” Bo suggested.

Quinn agreed and let himself get bullied into Bo’s car. When they got to his place, his wife welcomed him in with a hug. He hugged their son as well before slipping into a spare bedroom to make some calls in peace. He was about to call Brady before thinking that he should warn Luke first just in case.

“Hey, Quinn, what’s up?” Luke asked after answering on the third ring.

“You’ll never guess who turned up outside the rink today to ambush me,” Quinn started.

“I would guess Brady, but I know that he was here in Ottawa, so I don’t know. Who?”

“Mom.”

“What the fuck? What did she want?”

“To talk. I’d been ignoring all their calls, so she figured the best way to talk to me was just to turn up.”

“That’s terrible. Did she have anything in particular she wanted to talk about?”

“She wanted me to forgive them. She was upset that they weren’t invited to my wedding and wanted me to know that they are my _family_ and I should at least try talk to them and then magically forgive them,” Quinn explained.

“What did you say to that shit?”

“That it was shit and I was never going to forgive them. I don’t have to, and they can’t make me. Security then escorted her out.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, so I was just calling to give you the heads up in case they tried to turn up in Ottawa.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep an eye at. Have you told Brady yet?”

“No, he’s my next call. I thought I’d tell you first just as a warning,” Quinn explained.

Someone was calling Luke’s name on his end, so he had to hang up, but he thanked Quinn for the warning and told him he was proud of pushing their Mom away. Quinn sat there for a moment before calling Brady. He explained the whole thing again and Brady was also extremely disgusted at the situation.

“How are you feeling now?” Brady asked once Quinn was done.

“Better, I’m glad I didn’t give in and agree to a conversation. Bo was with me at the time, so I’m at the Horvats’ at the moment.”

“I’m glad. Fuck, I wish I could be there with you.”

“Same”

“When’s your next appointment with Ava? Is it soon?”

“Yeah, it’s in two days so I’ll talk to her about it then.”

“OK, just call me whenever you need to,” Brady said.

“Of course.”

They talked for a few minutes longer before Brady had to go. Quinn then headed back into the kitchen where everyone else was and let himself get swept up in the chaotic nature of the Horvat home for the rest of the evening.

*******

Thankfully he didn’t see his Mom again. His family kept trying to call and it was getting so frustrating that he did end up blocking them just so he didn’t have to deal with it. Training camp was coming to close which meant that Quinn had already played a couple of preseason game. Luckily, he was yet to hear any rude comments on the ice, so he was counting that was a win.

It was becoming clear that Evan Scott was going to make the team as a 20-year-old rookie defenceman. It took Quinn all of three seconds of thought before offering his spare room to him if he wanted it. With Mason having moved out it was only him living in his apartment and he really enjoyed the company. When he first moved to Vancouver, he thought he would enjoy a place by himself for the peace and quiet but that wasn’t true. He liked having someone around.

So, when the season started, he once again had a rookie in his spare room. The beginning of the season was crazy. Their opening night had the banner raising which was a really cool experience in front of their home crowd. They also got to immediately feel how much harder teams play against you when you are the defending champs.

Only a couple of weeks into the season Quinn was already completely bruised and spending their off day lying on the couch with an ice pack on his ribs. Scotty was out with others, so Quinn was surprised when there was a knock at the door. He wasn’t expecting anyone, but he went to open it as a lot of him teammates had the habit of just turning up.

He, however, wasn’t expecting Jack to be on the other side. He stood there in shock for a moment and that gave Jack enough of an opportunity to get around him and into the apartment.

“What are you doing here?” Quinn asked, shutting the door behind him.

“Mom said that you didn’t want to talk to her, so I thought that I’d try and talk to you while we’re here to play you tomorrow,” Jack explained.

“I thought I made it very clear that I didn’t want to talk to any of you, not just her.”

“Oh, come on Quinn, we used to be so close when we were younger. What changed?”

“Well, Mom decided that you were better and kept shoving that in my face. And at first you would even say anything about it and then you picked her side, so I haven’t exactly wanted to be close to you.”

“Come on, that was ages ago. Can’t we move on?”

“I’m not having this fucking discussion again. I’ve had it so many times before and I’m not having again so you can leave.”

“No, we are having this conversation.”

“No, the only thing that I want to know is how you know where I live.”

“I’m not going to tell you that.”

“Then I’ll have to think about you as a stalker as well as a terrible person,” Quinn snapped.

“I’m not a bad person. Why would you think that?” Jack shouted.

“Because you ignored the abuse of your two brothers and then started to inflict some of your own.”

“It wasn’t fucking abuse.”

“It doesn’t have to be physical abuse to be abuse. It was still fucking abuse.”

“It wasn’t fucking abuse,” Jack shouted again. He then grabbed a, thankfully clean, plate from the bench and threw it at Quinn.

Luckily Quinn could move out of the way, but it hit the wall behind him and shattered. He just stood there in complete shock as Jack moved into the kitchen. Quinn couldn’t seem to move as Jack reached for another plate.

“This is what you did to our family,” he spat before dropping the plate, shattering it as well.

“What the fuck. Stop this,” Quinn protested.

“Not until you agree to stop being so fucking dramatic and talk to us.”

“You’re not convincing me. Jack, I’m fucking scared of you. This is terrifying.”

It was like something out of a movie. He couldn’t believe that this was really happening. Jack kept smashing plates, glasses and anything else he could get his hands on. Quinn managed to snap out of it and rush over to try and stop him.

“Stop this, please,” he pleaded.

Jack just drop another glass. Unfortunately, Quinn was in shorts and bare feet, so he got shards in his feet.

“Fuck.”

“Fine, have it your way. We all knew that you were never a good enough Hughes. Now you just won’t have someone to come crying back to when Tkachuk realises that you aren’t worth it and breaks up with you,” Jack snaps.

Quinn thought that that was going to be all. It sounded like a final word but instead he headed out of the kitchen and towards Quinn’s bedroom, making sure to knock over the TV in the process.

“I hope there isn’t anything too breakable in here you like. Someone like you doesn’t deserve it anyway,” Jack smirked.

Quinn tried to get to him, but his feet hurt and there were shards all over the floor that he had to try and avoid. Luckily when he got there, Jack had mostly just pulled things off shelves and thrown things around. It looked like someone had ransacked the room looking for something. He arrived just in time to see Jack drop a couple of picture frame and watch the glass shatter.

“I guess you got lucky here. Like you got lucky with such a great family until you decided that we weren’t good enough for your high standards. No one is as perfect as you want them to be and you’ll realise just how great we are,” Jack snapped.

“They aren’t high standards. I just didn’t want to be insulted and hurt all the time.”

Jack just rolled his eyes at that comment. He looked he was about to leave when his eyes fell on something else.

“No, Jack, please don’t,” Quinn pleaded.

It was a pair of glass hockey players. Brady had gotten them made for him for a birthday. One wearing blue and one wearing red to symbolise them. It wasn’t something that Quinn would usually have but he liked having a small little Brady with him.

“I’m just doing what you did to our family,” he smirked before dropping them.

They, of course, shattered which made Jack laugh. “I think you’ve got the point here. You shouldn’t have done what you did.”

“Why are you doing this?” Quinn asked.

“Do you think that I liked being asked why I wasn’t invited to my brother’s draft? Why I wasn’t in photos at your wedding? Why we don’t talk? You are painting me as the bad guy and I wasn’t.”

“You are the bad guy. You just destroyed my apartment.”

“Because you made me. Don’t you get questions about us? Why you tore the family apart?”

“No, because I shut them down. The only time I’ve really talked about you was in the interview with Brady.”

“Where you said we didn’t count as your family. I got so many fucking questions about that and it was fucking bullshit,” Jack snapped.

“What else was I going to say? Yeah, I love my family which is why I haven’t spoken to them in years. It’s a fucking lie and I’m sick of lying so I wasn’t going to continue doing it.”

Jack rolled his eyes again but decided that wasn’t enough as he then slapped Quinn across the face. Quinn was shocked and Jack shoved Quinn backwards, hard. He stumbled since he wasn’t expected it and slammed into the wall, slightly winded, and collapsed on the ground. He tried to defend himself as Jack started kicking him, but he couldn’t move out of the way. After a minute Jack gave up and Quinn lay there as Jack continued his trail of destruction through the lounge.

“I guess you won’t be needed this. If I was your friend, I wouldn’t want to talk to such a terrible person as you,” Jack said, dropping his phone before stepping on it, well and truly destroying it.

He then decided that he was done, after flipping the glass coffee table, breaking it, and headed out of the apartment. Quinn just stared at the destruction for a moment but he couldn’t find the energy to get up. He was bleeding from the glass shards and his chest and back hurt from being shoved and kicked but he couldn’t do anything at the moment. He just lay there and started to sob.

*******

Evan had had a pleasant afternoon out with some of the guys. They had gone to a movie that he enjoyed but he was ready to get home. He liked Virts but he was very loud and after a while he needed a break. He was slightly surprised when the apartment door was unlocked but he assumed that Quinn was still there and hadn’t bothered to lock it.

He was extremely surprised to see the TV lying on the ground and shards of what looked like a plate spread across the hallway. He didn’t take his shoes off so he wouldn’t hurt himself and continued nervously into the apartment. It looked like someone had broken in and trashed the place, but it didn’t look like they had stolen anything. Only broken things.

“Huggy Bear,” he called.

He didn’t exactly hear a response, but he thought he heard crying, so he continued on. He was a little surprised to see Quinn lying on the floor in the hallway, outside his room. He looked to be in pain and he could already see that there was blood on his legs.

“Oh, Quinn, what happened?” he asked, sitting down beside the older defenceman.

“Jack was mad at me and trashed the place.”

Evan wasn’t sure who he meant but he left that alone. He was more interested in making sure that Quinn was alright. He helped him slowly sit up and couldn’t help but notice the wince that he made.

“How long have you been lying here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to go to the hospital?” Evan asked.

“Don’t want to move,” Quinn whispered.

Evan didn’t blame him since he looked in a lot of pain, but he did think he should be seen by someone. He wasn’t an expert, but he looked pretty hurt.

“How about we compromise, and I’ll see if someone from the medical team can make it out?” he asked.

Quinn nodded so Evan called Bill who luckily picked up. Thankfully he was more than willing to come out and when Evan gave him the address, he promised to be there in ten minutes before hanging up. Evan wanted to ask more about the mess, but he didn’t want to upset Quinn more. Instead he just sat there before standing up to let Bill in.

“Just watch out for the glass and stuff on the floor,” Evan warned.

Bill nodded and didn’t ask about it. Instead following Evan into the apartment to where Quinn was still sitting.

“What happened?” the doctor asked.

“Jack was here, and it got out of hand. He broken some glass and plates that I think got my legs and feet. He then pushed me and kicked me in the ribs a couple of times,” Quinn explained.

“And got you across the face by the look of that mark,” Bill added.

“Oh, yeah.”

“OK, I’m going to look at your legs first, but I’ve got to clean them. This might sting a bit.”

Quinn nodded and grimaced as Bill started to work. Once the blood was clean away it didn’t look nearly as bad. He had to pick a couple of bits of glass out but once it was all done it just looked like a few cuts on his legs and feet.

“Now, I need you to take your shirt off so I can have a look.”

Quinn did as instructed and there were already a few bruises but it was hard to know what was new and what was from hockey. Bill conducted his usual routine for chest injuries before sitting back.

“It doesn’t seem like you have seriously hurt anything. Probably just bruised but we can assess you tomorrow at the rink and see if you should play,” Bill explained, “And if at any point tonight you are struggling to breath then so straight to the hospital.”

Quinn nodded at the doctor started to pack all of his stuff back up.

“You could get the Police involved with this mess if you want,” Bill added.

“I don’t think I want to. It’s not worth the pain,” Quinn said.

Bill nodded before heading out. Evan helped Quinn slowly up off the floor and onto the couch. He then sent out a message to the team for help so that they could get a few more hands to help clean up since Quinn probably shouldn’t do it. Within seconds he had got confirmation from a number of players and within minutes they had started arriving.

Virts was the first one to arrive and as soon as he walked in the door he rushed over to Quinn and wrapped him in a gentle hug.

“Are you sure that you are alright?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Quinn promised.

Once Bo arrived, he started to take charge and gave everyone else a task to do. Quinn tried to protest that he could do it and they didn’t have to come but everyone quickly shut that do. He, then, tried to ask for a task to do but Bo just gave him the task of sitting down and looking pretty.

“Have you called Brady?” Bo asked.

“I can’t”

“How come?”

“My phone is completely smashed and won’t turn on,” Quinn explained.

“Ok, use my phone and call him. How about you go into Scotty’s room where it is quiet?” Bo suggested.

Quinn agreed, took the phone and disappeared off into the apartment. Bo then handed Evan a broom and told him to start sweeping the kitchen. From the looks of it, every single one of their glasses, plates and bowls were all broken and in bits on the floor. There was a considerable mess to clean up and Evan had to be careful not to step on the pieces too much.

Between all of them it didn’t take them too long. It was mostly sweeping up broken pieces which wasn’t difficult. Virts and Boes picked the TV up which thankfully wasn’t broken and but then Virts found Quinn’s phone.

“Yeah, this isn’t usable,” he said.

Evan had a look as well and it was completely busted. The screen was smashed and then were a couple of large dents in the side. He also thought that there was a chunk missing. Troy appeared from Quinn’s bedroom informing them that that room was clean.

“Ok, it looks pretty clean in here to,” Boes added.

“Great, you guys can go home then,” Bo said.

“But we want to stay and make sure that Huggy Bear is ok,” Virts protested.

“He’s going to feel pretty overwhelmed after this and probably doesn’t want a lot of people around. You can all see him at practice tomorrow,” Bo told them.

A few of them tried to continue to protest but Bo continued to shut them down. He was definitely right. This wasn’t the time that Quinn would like a lot of people around and everyone knew that.

By the time Quinn appeared it was only Bo left with Evan in the lounge.

“What happened to everyone else?”

“I sent them home. I didn’t think that you would appreciate so many people around,” Bo told him.

Quinn nodded and sat down on the couch, curling in on himself.

“You mostly just need kitchen things, a new phone and new photo frames. The phone we probably can’t replace tonight but if you are up for it then we could go out and replace all the dining ware,” Bo suggested.

Evan was surprised when Quinn agreed. He guessed that he just wanted something to do rather than sitting around. That was how they ended up at Walmart which luckily wasn’t that busy.

“Do you want similar things to what you had before?” Bo asked.

“As long as they perform their function I really don’t care,” Quinn said.

Bo rolled his eyes at that. Clearly, he had reached the real adult part of his life where you care about such things. Evan was mostly just here for the ride and to carry things. It didn’t take them long to have everything they needed and be heading towards the checkout.

“Thanks for this,” Quinn said.

“Of course, it’s what friends are for.”

*******

Things slowly came back to normal over the next few weeks. Quinn did play against the Devils and luckily Jack stayed away from him. It was clear that Mom had told him what she wanted him to say but Jack had his own agenda and had gone off the deep end when Quinn didn’t immediately agree.

Brady had wanted to fly out, but Quinn convinced him not to. His insomnia came back but after talking to Ava and some time he was beginning to sleep better. Everything eventually got replaced, including the small figures. Brady got another pair and sent them to Quinn.

When Sens were in town not long later, Quinn’s teammates insisted that Brady come out for dinner with them the day before. They were going to one of their usual places, so Quinn swung past Brady’s hotel on the way there to pick him up. He found Brady waiting aside so he only had to pull up for a moment before heading towards their destination.

“How are you?” Brady asked.

“I’m good. Still not sleeping the best but it’s getting better,” Quinn admitted.

“That’s good. Fuck, I wish that I could be here with you.”

“You could. Quit hockey and come be my trophy husband.”

“Now that sounds like a great idea.”

“Wouldn’t it? But, how are you?”

“I’m good. Not too bruised at the moment so that is a good thing.”

“I guess I’ll have to change that tomorrow,” Quinn smirked.

“Come on, you don’t hit people that hard,” Brady protested.

“I wasn’t talking about me. I do have a few teammates that hit harder.”

Brady just laughed at that and they continued to catch up before heading into the restaurant to join the rest of his teammates. He was extremely unsurprised to find the only two spare seats were in the middle of the long table, but he didn’t care as it meant that he could sit next to Brady.

For most of the Canucks, it was catching up with Brady for the first time since the wedding. There were a couple of new people he had to introduce Brady to, including Scotty.

“Oh, Quinn, your own rookie,” Brady teased.

“You say that like you haven’t adopted one as well.”

Brady just rolled his eyes at that because he knew that it was true. It was nice to see Brady fit in so well with his team.

“But Quinn is now a Tkachuk, how come his nickname is still Huggy Bear?” Brady asked the table.

It made everyone pause. It wasn’t something that anyone had thought about. Technically the nickname had come from Hughes, but everyone had been calling him that for years. At this point the name had grown on him and he couldn’t imagine them calling him anything else.

“What? You want me to be Chucky like you and Matty?” Quinn asked.

“Just food for thought.”

“No, he’s Huggy Bear. It’s not changing,” Virts protested.

“Yeah, the only way that it would change would be if he grew taller,” Troy chirped.

That got a round of agreement from the table. Brady was just laughing at the responses he got, and Quinn had blushed slightly.

“I mean Quinn even likes it now,” Bo added.

“I mean, I don’t hate it,” Quinn teased.

“So, that’s that then,” Virts said firmly.

The conversation moved on. By the time everyone was finished with their food Quinn was in a good mood. It had been a fun evening even if there had been a few stories shared at his expense. Brady had got permission to stay with Quinn for the night so he headed home with Quinn.

Both of them were pretty exhausted so they headed straight for bed. It was nice to have Brady back in his bed with him. They were cuddled together with Brady’s arms wrapped around him so Quinn could relax back into his chest.

“You sure that you are feeling better?” Brady asked.

“Yeah, better now that you are here to.”

“I’m glad. Did they contact Luke?” Brady asked.

“Mom tried to call him a few times but hasn’t heard from her since he blocked her.”

“I’m glad about that too.”

“I guess that it is probably because they don’t want to have to visit the terrible place of Ottawa,” Quinn teased.

“Oh, come on, Ottawa is great.”

“Sure it is. I’m not the one that has to live there though.”

Brady just laughed at that. They continued to lie there as Brady idly rubbed his finger over Quinn’s ring.

“Do you think about playing for the same team?” Brady asked.

“Yeah, but I love it here and you love it in Ottawa. And then for one of us getting trading the team would have to give up teammates and I don’t know if would want that,” Quinn explained.

“Yeah, I would feel guilty knowing that I was the reason that someone was traded.”

“I mean the way that we are at the moment isn’t perfect with being on different sides of the country but it is working for us.”

“That is true.”

“And if in a couple of years when we are UFAs then we can decide where we want to go. We could sign somewhere together or sign with the others team.”

“Yeah, I guess that is true.”

“Or you could sign in Calgary with Matty?” Quinn teased, lightening the conversation.

“But if we play together then I can’t fight him.”

“Could you imagine what your Mom would say if you ever got into the fight with him?”

“She’d be so bad. That’s the first thing told me before we played each other. If we fought each other then she will disown both of us.”

“She’d totally do that too.”

“Oh yeah, Matty just chirps me instead.”

“What does he chirp you about?”

“It’s you mostly.”

“What about?” Quinn asked.

“Before we started dating, he would chirp me about how much I was pining for you,” Brady smiled.

“Really?”

“I think you’ve forgotten about how everyone else knew how much we loved each other before we did. He’d known I’d liked you for years before I made a move.”

“True.”

“Even if it took longer than people thought I’m glad how we ended up.”

“Same, I couldn’t imagine sharing this bed with anyone else.”

“Neither.”

“Even if you have had to put up with all of my bullshit,” Quinn added.

“Of course, you’ve put up with all of mine as well. You’re so good for me,” Brady told him.

“You’re good for me too. I love you so much.”

“I love you more. Even though I think my Dad loves you more than that.”

Quinn laughed at that. “You know he calls me like once a week to catch up.”

“He does what?”

“Oh, I hadn’t told you. Yeah, he calls me and it’s just a nice catch-up.”

“I seriously can’t believe that. He doesn’t even call me that much,” Brady protested.

“Really? He really does love you more than me or Matty,” Quinn smirked.

“Oh yeah, he totally does. What do you talk about?”

“Just what we’ve been up. I talk to your Mom occasionally as well.”

“Did you tell them about your parents?”

“Yeah, Keith wanted to fly over and fight them himself.”

“He totally would too.”

“I know that. I had to talk him out of it. He was good to talk to, though.”

“I’m sure it is. He’s a nice voice to hear.”

“Yeah, your parents are like the family that I don’t have. It’s really nice.”

“I’m glad. They love you so much.”

“Yeah, just what I wish my parents could’ve been.”

“Of course. But you don’t need them anymore because you are a Tkachuk and you don’t need them anymore,” Brady promised.

“Yeah.”

Brady tightened his arms around Quinn and pulled him closer.

“They don’t deserve you. You are perfect and they don’t deserve you anymore.”

Quinn nodded and couldn’t help the couple of tears that dripped from his eyes. After the couple of weeks that he had had he needed to hear that. Brady had been assuring him that he was better than them but hearing it in person was even better and more re-assuring.

“Sometimes I feel like I deserve you either,” Quinn admitted, rolling over to face Brady.

“I feel the same thing about you. You are so calm and talk me down when I’m feeling angry or thinking of doing something stupid. I couldn’t do it without you.”

Quinn nodded. After hearing some of the shit that his Mom had been spouting at him in recent years it was hard to convince himself of that. Talking to Brady, his team and Ava helped but he still doubted it in himself sometimes. Cutting her out of his life was probably going to be the best decision he ever made just so he didn’t have to hear that bullshit anymore.

They continued to talk for a bit longer and he was feeling more relaxed than he had in a while. Having Brady curled up around him helped with that. Eventually, he was being to tire and ended up falling asleep easily.

He woke the next morning to Brady still curled around him. He was overheating so he had to extricate himself from his grasp and head towards the kitchen. Scotty was already waiting for him and handed him a mug of coffee.

“Morning.”

“Morning”

They moved around each other silently as they made their own breakfasts. Quinn made some for Brady as well and waited for his husband to arise. He ended up having to go back in to wake him as they both had places to be. Brady had to be back at the team hotel and Quinn had to be at practice. He sat on the side of the bed with coffee in one hand and shook him awake with the other. Brady grumbled awake but slowly sat up and stared at him.

“You need to get up,” Quinn told him.

“But I don’t want to.”

Quinn just wordlessly handed him the mug and let him sip it in silence for a few moments.

“You do have to get up. We have to go in not too long.”

Brady grumbled some more but did manage to clamber out of bed and in the direction of the bathroom. Quinn just let him do this own thing until they were both ready to leave. Quinn had to drop him at the hotel first so he pulled back up in front of the hotel.

“We’re flying out to Edmonton straight after the game so I probably won’t have much time to see you but I can probably spare ten minutes maybe,” Brady admitted.

“I’ll take all the time I can get. I’ll see you on the ice,” Quinn smirked.

“When we beat you.”

“In your dreams.”

Brady kissed Quinn once before getting out of the car and heading into the hotel. Quinn sat there for a moment before heading towards the rink. Since he had to take a detour from his usual route most of the team was already there and changing.

“Had a good night?” Virts asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, didn’t have to spent it all with you guys,” Quinn teased.

“No, you got to spend it with you _husband_ ,” Mason chorused.

Quinn just rolled his eyes at that and started changing. The rest of the table continued to chirp him but he pushed that aside and just rolled with it. Practice and their meetings were the same as usual and soon enough they were out on the ice for warm-ups.

Luke, Josh and Brady were all standing at centre ice waiting for him so he skated over.

“Looking forward to losing?” Josh chirped.

Quinn just rolled his eyes at that. He felt bad for not catching up with him or Luke last night but he was adult enough to know that he valued his time with his husband more.

“I think that you guys are going to be the ones losing tonight.”

They didn’t have much longer to speak as they had to return to their own teams. Luke did manage to check that he was doing alright but he confirmed with his brother that he was. And there was nothing that a little bit more time wouldn’t help more.

“You ready to win tonight?” Virts asked him

“Of course. Got to get all the bragging rights.” Quinn smiled.

“Got anything riding on the game?”

“What do you mean?”

“Got any bets going with anyone on the outcome of the game?”

“No.”

“Not even a sex bet?” Virts teased, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course not,” Quinn blushed.

“Just wanted to check.”

Quinn pushed it out of his mind and focused on the game ahead of them. It was a good game all around and even better for Quinn when the Canucks won 5-2. Quinn had even managed a goal and an assist which put him in a good mood.

He quickly showered and changed before heading out to find Brady waiting for him in an empty corridor. He wrapped his husband in a tight hug before stepping back.

“You played well tonight,” Quinn started.

“So did you. I always forget how hot you are on the ice. You looked so good out there,” Brady said, keeping his hands on Quinn’s arms.

“Braaaadddyy.”

“If we weren’t flying out tonight I would take you home with me.”

“Brady, stop, please.”

“Ok, fine, just fly to Edmonton with me instead.”

Quinn whacked him in the shoulder which did make him stop.

“Don’t forget to call me whenever you need me,” Brady told him.

“Of course, I couldn’t do it without you.”

“Yeah, you aren’t getting rid of me that easily.”

Quinn was about to say something when someone called Brady’s name. Brady turned around to see Chabot calling his name.

“Sorry, Chucky, we have to go. You need to be outside in like five minutes,” he told him.

“I’ll be a second. I’ll just have to say goodbye to Quinn.”

The defenceman nodded and disappeared back around the corner.

“I’ve really got to go. I’ll see you later,” Brady told him.

Quinn hugged and kissed him one last time. “I’ll see you soon.”

He didn’t want to have to let him go but he had to.

“Call me later.”

“Of course. I love you.”

“I love you more.”

Brady kissed him again before heading off in the direction of his team and disappearing behind the same corner as Chabot. He stayed there for a few minutes and he was still standing there when Virts found him.

“How are you?” Virts asked.

“I’m good. Feeling better.”

“I’m glad. It’s good to see you happy again.”

Quinn nodded before following the forward out of the rink and home. He collapsed straight on his bed when he got home and just lay there. He wasn’t ready to go to sleep there so he just stayed there.

He was telling the truth to everyone that had asked. He was feeling much better. Blocking his family was both cathartic and good for him. He was glad to not have to deal with their bullshit anymore and it was so good.

The team was great and the Tkachuks helped with that. Keith and Chantal were great and he loved them like they were his own parents. He also loved Brady so much and he was the best thing in his life. He has a much better family now. People that actually care about him.

Life still isn’t perfect but it was going well and he was happy where he was. He couldn’t imagine being in a better situation and he loved where he was at the moment. He still had days that he didn’t feel great and days that he needed to talk to Ava or Brady or someone else to feel better. That didn’t take away from the fact that there were more good days than bad.

He couldn’t name definitely the best day of his life. His wedding was amazing and so was the day that Brady proposed but there were so many other days that he enjoyed a lot. But in the last couple of years he’d had so many good days and it was great.

Life isn’t perfect but it is as close as it is going to be. And Quinn loved that.


End file.
